The Catholic Spirit - January 11, 2024

January 11, 2024 • Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

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Helping the vulnerable One child at a time

PRO-LIFE EMPHASIS ISSUE u Understanding abortion landscape in Minnesota u Marching for life u Helping struggling families u Offering warmth in donated parkas —Pages 8-12, 20 SYNOD SMALL GROUPS 6 | BLESSINGS FOR COUPLES 7 | A POET’S CREATIVITY 13 DEACON DISCERNMENT 15 | FRONTIER FAITH 16 | WHY I AM CATHOLIC 18

2 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

JANUARY 11, 2024

PAGETWO NEWS notes

COURTESY JOE GILLIS OF ST. AMBROSE, WOODBURY

CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS Father Bob Schwartz distributes Communion on Christmas Day for the first time in nearly four years at Catholic Charities’ Dorothy Day Place campus in St. Paul. Supported by more than a dozen volunteers with Friends of Dorothy Day, worshippers gathered for Mass with Father Schwartz presiding. Father Schwartz began celebrating weekly Mass at Dorothy Day Place on Ash Wednesday 2020. But those celebrations were temporarily halted several weeks later because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This fall, Father Schwartz began pastoral visits to the campus each Tuesday afternoon, said Steve Hawkins, a member of Friends of Dorothy Day and a parishioner of St. John Neumann in Eagan.

One of four faith leaders interviewed before Christmas for spiritual guidance they might give when someone is struggling through hard times, Archbishop Bernard Hebda said faith is most important in those very moments. “Coming from the Christian tradition, we’re just going to be celebrating the birth of Jesus, and he was born at a really difficult time,” the archbishop told Esme Murphy of WCCO-TV in Minneapolis for a program titled “Talking Points.” Jesus was born into poverty in Bethlehem, at a time when that city was controlled by the Romans and things could seem so bleak, “and yet, that’s precisely the moment that we believe God intervenes into our history,” Archbishop Hebda said. “In my own experience, it’s really in those darkest moments that faith is most important,” he said. WCCO’s Murphy noted it seems to be a particularly difficult time in the world to hold onto faith, with war in the Middle East, crime and violence in communities and many people struggling to make ends meet. Offering advice ranging from a willingness to change perspective, be inspired by the good people do as they help others and reaching beyond the self to assist others in need were Rabbi Marcia Zimmerman with Temple Israel Minneapolis, Imam Asad Zaman, the executive director of Muslim American Society of Minnesota, and Bishop Patricia Lull with St. Paul Area Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.

With the Child Tax Credit (CTC) now state law, the Minnesota Catholic Conference (MCC) has begun sending a resource packet on the CTC to every parish and Catholic school in the state. The nation-leading tax credit in Minnesota aims to help families by increasing their tax return or by lowering the amount of taxes owed. MCC reports that according to the Minnesota Department of Revenue, 10-15% of families who qualify for these tax benefits do not receive them because they either don’t think they’re eligible for them, or they don’t know how to access the benefits. MCC will host webinars at 2 p.m. Jan. 16 and 9 a.m. Jan. 19 to guide parish and diocesan leaders through the resource packet and how best to inform parishioners of the tax credit. A link to the webinar will be sent upon RSVPing online to either event at mncatholic.org/events. More information on the CTC can be found online: familiesfirstproject.com/ctc With Lent approaching Feb. 14, watch for The Catholic Spirit Fish Fry and Lenten Meal Guide in the Feb. 8 edition and online at TheCatholicSpirit.com

PRACTICING Catholic

OSV NEWS | SERGIO FLORES, REUTERS

IOWA SCHOOL SHOOTING Michelle and Dylan Woods embrace during a prayer vigil Jan. 4 after a shooting the same day at Perry High School in Iowa. A 17-year-old opened fire at the high school in Perry, about 30 miles northwest of Des Moines, before classes resumed on the first day after the winter break, killing a sixth grader and wounding five others as students barricaded themselves in offices, ducked into classrooms and fled in panic. The high school shares a campus with Perry Middle School.

ON THE COVER Sarah Hoffner plays with Vladislav Cook Jan. 3 in the south Minneapolis home she shares with her husband, David, and their three children. She is providing foster care for Cook as part of a program called Together for Good, which helps struggling families. Cook’s mother, Adrienne Hollis, also lives in south Minneapolis and is trying to build a life after her recent release from Shakopee women’s prison.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

The Catholic Spirit is published semi-monthly for The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Vol. 29 — No. 1 MOST REVEREND BERNARD A. HEBDA, Publisher TOM HALDEN, Associate Publisher JOE RUFF, Editor-in-Chief REBECCA OMASTIAK, News Editor

The Jan. 5 “Practicing Catholic” show on Relevant Radio 1330 AM included Nancy Schulte Palacheck and Maura Dobie, who talked about a summer mission opportunity known as Totus Tuus that invites college students to minister to young people, discern their own vocations and get paid. It also included a discussion with Samuel Backman, longtime organist and parishioner at Holy Cross in Minneapolis, about a Polish symphony he composed, and a conversation with Father Tom Wilson, pastor of All Saints in Lakeville, about the importance of masculinity in the Church in a Practicing Catholic Classic. The Dec. 29 show included Deacon Joe Michalak and Gizella “Gizzy” Miko from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Office of Synod Evangelization, who explained how to connect with upcoming small groups in parishes as part of implementing the Archdiocesan Synod.

Also in the show, Archbishop Bernard Hebda encouraged families to meditate on the feast of the Holy Family and Father Michael Van Sloun talked about the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. Interviews can be heard after they have aired at PracticingCatholicShow.com or choose a streaming platform at Spotify for Podcasters anchor.fm/practicing-catholic-show.

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THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 3

FROMTHEARCHBISHOP ONLY JESUS | ARCHBISHOP BERNARD HEBDA

The Church must be a ‘school of communion’

I

’m blessed to be writing this column as the bishops of our province (made up of the dioceses of North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota) begin our annual retreat.

We are led this year by Father James Kubicki, a well-respected Jesuit spiritual director, familiar to many of you, I suspect, from his daily reflections on Relevant Radio. He knows our province well: He has served three stints in Native American ministry in South Dakota and also lived and served in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for a number of years, first as a Jesuit novice, then as a vocations director and member of the staff at the Jesuit novitiate on Summit Avenue, and finally as staff at Demontreville, the Jesuit retreat house in Lake Elmo, where he continues to offer occasional retreats.

Experience suggests that a good retreat master has to be not only a person of deep faith who knows Jesus intimately, but also an excellent storyteller, and Father Kubicki satisfies both of those criteria. I am particularly enjoying the stories that he has told about his experience of life in our archdiocese, and impressed by the way he uses those stories and sacred Scripture to draw us closer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

I’ve preached quite a few retreats to priests, but never a retreat to bishops. I have heard from retreat masters in past years that bishops are perceived as a tough audience. Allow me, however, to let you in on a secret — we bishops feel so privileged to have a week to

La Iglesia debe ser una “escuela de comunión”

T

engo la suerte de escribir esta columna mientras los obispos de nuestra provincia (compuesta por las diócesis de Dakota del Norte, Dakota del Sur y Minnesota) comienzan nuestro retiro anual. Este año estamos dirigidos por el Padre James Kubicki, un respetado director espiritual jesuita, conocido por muchos de ustedes, sospecho, por sus reflexiones diarias en Relevant Radio. Conoce bien nuestra provincia: ha trabajado tres períodos en el ministerio de los nativos americanos en Dakota del Sur y también vivió y sirvió en la Arquidiócesis de St. Paul y Minneapolis durante varios años, primero como novicio jesuita, luego como director de vocaciones y miembro del personal del noviciado jesuita en Summit Avenue y, finalmente, como personal de Demontreville, la casa de retiros jesuita en Lake Elmo, donde continúa ofreciendo retiros ocasionales.

La experiencia sugiere que un buen maestro de retiro tiene que ser no sólo una persona de profunda fe que conozca íntimamente a Jesús, sino también un excelente narrador, y el padre Kubicki satisface ambos criterios. Disfruto particularmente las historias que ha contado sobre su experiencia de vida en nuestra arquidiócesis, y me impresiona la forma en que utiliza esas historias y las Sagradas Escrituras para acercarnos más al Sagrado Corazón de Jesús.

He predicado bastantes retiros a sacerdotes, pero nunca a obispos. En los últimos años he escuchado de los maestros de retiros que los obispos son percibidos como una audiencia dura. Permítanme, sin embargo, contarles un secreto: nosotros, los obispos, nos sentimos

spend together with the Lord, away from the busyness associated with our day-to-day obligations, that we are probably the easiest audience that any retreat master could hope to find.

While a regional retreat is not a requirement of canon law, I am grateful that there is such a strong tradition in the United States of bishops making their annual retreats together. Even though we spend most of the day in silence (other than in the dining room each evening), I have always experienced a strong sense of fraternity on these retreats. As I look to my left and my right in the chapel, I’m prompted to pray not only for my brothers in the episcopate, but also for the local churches that they so generously lead.

I feel honored to serve alongside these leaders.

Although we each have very different gifts and face challenges that vary from diocese to diocese, there’s a unity that is almost tangible when the bishops of our province come together for prayer. Unity is one of the marks of the Church. Every time we profess our faith at Mass, we speak about the Church being “one, holy, Catholic and apostolic.” That “oneness” is something for which we have to work, but also something for which we pray. I am always moved by the Eucharistic Prayer option in our Roman Missal that begs God to “strengthen the bond of unity between the faithful and the pastors of your people” so that “in a world torn by strife, your people may shine forth as a prophetic sign of unity and concord.”

I love that ideal of being a “prophetic sign of unity and concord.” In an apostolic letter released

at the beginning of this millennium, St. John Paul II recognized that our Church needs to be a “school of communion” if she is going to “be faithful to God’s plan and respond to the world’s deepest yearnings.” (“Novo Millennio Ineunte,” 43). He noted that a “spirituality of communion” means being able to see our brothers and sisters in faith as being “part of me,” so that we are able “to share their joys and sufferings, to sense their desire and attend to their needs, to offer them deep and genuine friendship.”

tan privilegiados de tener una semana para pasar junto al Señor, lejos del ajetreo asociado con nuestras obligaciones diarias, que probablemente somos la audiencia más fácil que cualquier maestro de retiros podría esperar encontrar.

Si bien un retiro regional no es un requisito del derecho canónico, agradezco que exista una tradición tan fuerte en los Estados Unidos de que los obispos realicen juntos sus retiros anuales. Incluso aunque pasamos la mayor parte del día en silencio (excepto en el comedor cada noche), siempre he experimentado un fuerte sentido de fraternidad en estos retiros. Al mirar a mi izquierda y a mi derecha en la capilla, me siento impulsado a orar no sólo por mis hermanos en el episcopado, sino también por las Iglesias locales que ellos dirigen tan generosamente.

Me siento honrado de servir junto a estos líderes.

Aunque cada uno de nosotros tiene dones muy diferentes y enfrentamos desafíos que varían de una diócesis a otra, hay una unidad que es casi tangible cuando los obispos de nuestra provincia se reúnen para orar. La unidad es una de las marcas de la Iglesia. Cada vez que profesamos nuestra fe en la Misa hablamos de que la Iglesia es “una, santa, católica y apostólica”. Esa “unidad” es algo por lo que tenemos que trabajar, pero también algo por lo que oramos. Siempre me conmueve la opción de la Plegaria Eucarística en nuestro Misal Romano que ruega a Dios “fortalecer el vínculo de unidad entre los fieles y los pastores de tu pueblo” para que “en un mundo desgarrado por las luchas, tu pueblo pueda brillar como un signo profético de unidad y concordia”.

Me encanta ese ideal de ser “signo profético de unidad y concordia”. En una carta apostólica publicada a principios de este milenio, San Juan Pablo II reconoció que nuestra Iglesia necesita ser una “escuela de comunión” si quiere “ser fiel al plan de Dios y responder a los anhelos más profundos del mundo”. (“Novo Millennio Ineunte”, 43). Señaló que una “espiritualidad de comunión” significa poder ver a nuestros hermanos y hermanas en la fe como “parte de mí”, para que podamos “compartir sus alegrías y sufrimientos, sentir

su deseo y atender sus necesidades, para ofrecerles una amistad profunda y genuina.”

Tenemos la bendición como católicos de ser parte de una Iglesia que fue estructurada por Cristo para fomentar ese tipo de unidad y comunión. San Juan Pablo continuaría en ese mismo párrafo de “Novo Millennio Ineunte” señalando el ministerio petrino (es decir, el ministerio de Pedro, el primer Papa, y sus sucesores) y la colegialidad episcopal (la relación fraternal y la colaboración entre los obispos) como dos estructuras clave para “garantizar y salvaguardar la comunión”.

Con eso en mente, sepan que mientras oro por todos ustedes en mi retiro anual, también oro por una profundización de mi comunión con mis hermanos obispos y con el Santo Padre. Agradezco que el padre Kubicki nos haya recordado la declaración del Papa Francisco a principios de este año de que “nuestra primera prioridad pastoral es dar testimonio de la comunión, porque Dios es comunión y está presente dondequiera que haya caridad fraterna”. No importa los desafíos que enfrentemos, trabajemos juntos para ser instrumentos de caridad fraterna y testigos de la comunión.

We are blessed as Catholics to be part of a Church that was structured by Christ to foster that type of unity and communion. St. John Paul would go on in that same paragraph of “Novo Millennio Ineunte” to point to the Petrine ministry (i.e, the ministry of Peter, the first pope, and his successors) and episcopal collegiality (the fraternal relationship and collaboration among bishops) as two key structures to “ensure and safeguard communion.”

With that in mind, know that as I pray for all of you on my annual retreat that I am also praying for a deepening of my communion with my brother bishops and with the Holy Father. I am grateful that Father Kubicki reminded us of Pope Francis’ statement earlier this year that “our first pastoral priority is to bear witness to communion, for God is communion and he is present wherever there is fraternal charity.”

No matter the challenges we face, let’s work together to be instruments of fraternal charity and witnesses to communion.

OFFICIAL Effective February 1, 2024 Deacon Russ Shupe, granted status of a retired deacon. Deacon Shupe has been serving as a deacon in the Archdiocese since his ordination in 1991, most recently at the Church of Saint Michael in Farmington.

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March 9, 2017

4 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

JANUARY 11, 2024

‘Angel’ among us

LOCAL

SLICEof LIFE

Archangel artistry

St. Joseph of Carondelet Sister Avis Allmaras, center, talks with Rose Carter, left, and Irene Eiden at Peace House in south Minneapolis Feb. 27. Sister Avis goes to the center weekly and visits frequent guests like Carter. Eiden, of St. William in Fridley, is a lay consociate of the Carondelet Sisters. Peace House is a day shelter for the poor and homeless.

“It’s a real privilege to know these people and hear their stories,” Sister Avis said. “I could not survive on the streets like they do. There are so many gifted people here.” Said Carter of Sister Avis: “She’s an angel. She hides her wings under that sweatshirt. She truly is an angel.”

Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

Denise Dooley of St. Raphael in Crystal puts the finishing touches Jan. 6 on a mural of St. Raphael the Archangel she painted on a wall near the entrance of the school. A 1970 graduate of the school and a retired scenic artist who worked at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Dooley, 66, was hired by the school to do a life-size mural of St. Raphael.

She began the day after Christmas and was nearly finished when students returned to classes the first week of January. Their facial expressions of awe were recorded as they walked through the doors and were posted on the school’s Facebook page, which Dooley viewed. “I didn’t expect that kind of reaction,” she said. “So, that really touched me, seeing those kids’ faces.” The idea came from the principal of the school, Jason Finne, and the pastor of the parish, Father Nick Hagen. Finne, who became principal of the prekindergarten through eighth grade school in 2021, called the mural a “Christmas present to the kids.”

Celebrating sisters National Catholic Sisters Week is March 8-14. An official component of Women’s History Month and headquartered at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, the week celebrates women religious and their contributions to the Church and society. View local events, including two art exhibitions, at www.nationalcatholicsistersweek.org.

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THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 5

Vatican finds Archbishop Nienstedt acted ‘imprudently’ but not criminally under canon law

By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit A multiyear investigation overseen by the Church into Archbishop John Nienstedt, who resigned from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, has ended with the Vatican finding he acted “imprudently” in several instances but not criminally under canon law, Archbishop Bernard Hebda said in a statement Jan. 5.

“While none of those instances, either standing alone or taken together, were determined to warrant any further investigation or penal sanctions,” Archbishop Hebda said, “it was determined by Pope Francis that the following administrative actions are justified: DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT 1. Archbishop Nienstedt may not exercise any public In this file photo from 2011, Archbishop John Nienstedt delivers ministries in the Province of St. Paul and Minneapolis (the Province covers all of Minnesota, North Dakota and the homily during Mass at The St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul.

South Dakota). the “imprudent” actions he allegedly committed while 2. He may not reside in the Province of St. Paul and in Minnesota.

Minneapolis.

“I will heed the direction given to me by the Holy 3. He may not exercise ministry in any way outside Father, which I have been following for the past seven of his diocese of residence without the express years,” he said. “I am retired now so my ministry authorization of the attendant Ordinary and only after will continue to be limited. I am sorry for any pain the Dicastery for Bishops has been informed.” experienced by anyone because of the allegations After having led the archdiocese for seven years, against me, and ask for your prayers for their healing. I Archbishop Nienstedt resigned in June 2015, less than also ask for continued prayers for the well-being of the two weeks after the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and its leaders.” filed criminal and civil charges against the archdiocese After charges against the archdiocese were dismissed, for failing to protect children in the case of former priest questions nonetheless remained about Archbishop Curtis Wehmeyer. Wehmeyer was convicted of sexually Nienstedt’s actions regarding Wehmeyer and the abusing three minors who were parishioners when he police investigation, as well as separate allegations was pastor of Blessed Sacrament in St. Paul. of inappropriate conduct with adult males and an The civil charges against the archdiocese were allegation that the archbishop, when bishop of New dismissed in 2015 in a settlement that included the archdiocese agreeing to be held accountable to a Ramsey Ulm, had undressed in the presence of minors in a hotel room during the 2005 World Youth Day in Cologne, County court for creating and maintaining a safe environment for youth and others. The criminal charges Germany.

In 2018, Archbishop Hebda, with the were dismissed in 2016. recommendation of the Archdiocesan Ministerial Archbishop Nienstedt, who now lives in Michigan, Review Board, determined that Archbishop Nienstedt, issued a statement regarding the Vatican’s findings, like any priest of the archdiocese facing similar saying he resigned in 2015 to give the archdiocese a new beginning “amidst the many challenges we faced at that accusations, would not be free to exercise public ministry in the archdiocese until all open allegations time. My leadership had unfortunately drawn attention were resolved. away from the good works of Christ’s Church and those The questions that remained “necessitated a who performed them. Thus, my decision to step aside. determination by officials of the Holy See,” Archbishop “Since then, I have fully cooperated with any Hebda said Jan. 5. “Archbishop Nienstedt himself also investigation into allegations made against me and I stated publicly that he would welcome an investigation have answered every question asked of me honestly and to resolve the allegations, which he has denied.” to the best of my recollection,” Archbishop Nienstedt A path for resolution came with promulgation said. Now, he said, he has asked the Holy See to clarify

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by Pope Francis of “Vos estis lux mundi” in 2019 establishing procedures for investigating reports of misconduct against bishops, Archbishop Hebda said. Those procedures have been followed and the investigation is complete, he said.

“At the formal request of individuals here in the Archdiocese, the allegations against Archbishop Nienstedt were thoroughly investigated by officials outside of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis in accordance with the process set forth in ‘Vos estis,’” Archbishop Hebda said.

The late Tom Johnson, a former Hennepin County Attorney and later the archdiocese’s ombudsperson for victims-survivors of clergy sexual abuse, was one of the individuals calling for a comprehensive investigation followed by a public disclosure of the outcome, Archbishop Hebda said.

After reviewing the evidence, the Dicastery for Bishops and the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith concluded that the allegations that Archbishop Nienstedt had committed a “delict” or crime in canon law were unfounded, Archbishop Hebda said.

“Though the evidence available did not support a finding that any conduct on the part of Archbishop Nienstedt could be judged as a delict, it was communicated to me that several instances of ‘imprudent’ actions were brought to light,” Archbishop Hebda said, leading to the three administrative actions.

“Please join me in praying that this resolution may bring further healing to our archdiocese and to all those involved in these matters,” Archbishop Hebda said.

Tim O’Malley, who was director of the archdiocese’s Office of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment from 2014 to 2023 and now is an adviser to Archbishop Hebda and senior archdiocesan leadership, said “Vos estis” was enacted by Pope Francis for “situations just like this one.” The case demonstrates that allegations against bishops will be investigated and that there are consequences for failures in leadership, he said.

“While some may disagree with the outcome, I fully support the ‘Vos estis’ process as a way to hold bishops accountable, including making the pope’s decision known,” O’Malley said. “I hope that this resolution promotes further healing in our archdiocese, particularly for those who have suffered because of such failures.”

Archbishop Hebda’s full statement can be read online at archspm.org/statement-regarding-the-status-of-archbishopjohn-nienstedt.

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6 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

LOCAL

JANUARY 11, 2024

Small groups a chance to ‘walk with others closer to Christ’

By Rebecca Omastiak The Catholic Spirit The recipe Charlene Amato-Geib shares isn’t for a meal; rather, it’s for a different kind of sustenance. It’s a recipe for a successful small group.

“Start with a few people who share the Lord’s desire,” read Amato-Geib, a 72-year-old member of St. Rita in Cottage Grove and a member of the parish’s Executive Cell Team (ECT).

“Add a few other ardent Christians, plus other people who want to meet Jesus or get to know him better. Mix it all with a balanced and interesting sharing of your faith experience. Add a good dose of prayer and another of personal commitment through humble, free and selfless service. Add a teaspoon of common sense. Drop a pinch of humor, skim off all the professional or religious jargon and excess emotionality. Season with a generous welcome and interest in people and love. Reject all superiority and gossip. Let the Holy Spirit set hearts on fire to praise the Lord Jesus Christ.”

The recipe was among the resources Amato-Geib received as an ECT member.

A main ingredient small group members can add to the mix? “Falling in love deeply, falling in love with Christ,” Amato-Geib said.

This January, an invitation is being extended to all parishioners in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to deepen this love and extend it to others as part of the Archdiocesan Synod implementation.

Parishes can share an invitation video, recorded by Archbishop Bernard Hebda, at Masses during what has formally been designated as Small Group Invitation Weekend Jan. 13-14 or Jan. 20-21.

“We have a long history of small groups in our archdiocese and wherever the Church is alive, so are small groups,” the archbishop said in the invitation video. “Therefore, beginning this Lent, please join a small group in your parish — either an existing small group ministry or especially one of the newly-formed Parish Evangelization Cells.”

The formation of small groups continues the first-year focus of implementing the Archdiocesan Synod. Archbishop Hebda identified that focus more than a year ago in his pastoral letter “You Will Be My Witnesses: Gathered and Sent from the Upper Room,” Proposition 19 — to “create or grow a small group ministry at every parish that fosters personal relationships, builds community and provides formation to help parishioners grow as joyful missionary disciples of Christ.” That proposition was among the top five votedupon propositions during the Synod.

“Small groups continue to be an excellent vehicle for the provision of Christ-centered care, with heart speaking to heart,” Archbishop Hebda wrote.

In the invitation video, Archbishop Hebda said the Parish Evangelization Cell System (PECS) model of small groups was selected because “it is easily learned, its content is flexible, it directly builds up parish life, and most of all because it equips participants to reach out to others in an authentic, non-threatening way.”

This model of small group encourages members “to become more aware of God’s action in our lives and, therefore, to be more aware of his action in others’ lives so that they can come to know him as well,” said Deacon Joseph

FAITH ON FIRE Shane Hoefer and the men who meet regularly in Hoefer’s backyard to enjoy root beers and a bonfire begin their small group gatherings with a prayer.

It’s a prayer “asking the Father to send the Holy Spirit to open our minds so we can understand the words that we’re going to explore,” Hoefer said.

In 2022, Hoefer, a 44-year-old father and parishioner of St. Pius X in White Bear Lake, had the idea to “seek out some other dads, likeminded dads, and that was kind of the starting point.” What began in June as a suggested seven-week commitment has turned into a small group going strong, Hoefer said.

“We sort of tongue-in-cheek named it ‘Fire and Brimstone,’” he said.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

People gather in small groups during an Archdiocesan Synod event Jan. 17, 2023, at Guardian Angels in Oakdale.

Michalak, director of the Office of Synod Evangelization for the archdiocese.

The ability to talk about this action openly, and to learn and reflect with others, helps build authentic connection in service of God, said Laura Haraldson, facilitator of Synod implementation for the Office of Synod Evangelization.

“You go so quickly into a much deeper relationship than I think we typically do in today’s society, when you have that opportunity to be in that kind of healthy, holy intimacy of a small group,” Haraldson said.

This kind of relationship is something many are seeking in today’s world, said Gizella “Gizzy” Miko, Synod small group facilitator for the Office of Synod Evangelization.

“I think our world is really lonely, especially now, maybe more than any other time in history,” Miko said. “And I think we see that in people, they’re longing to have that community. But not just simply community — Christian community, community oriented towards Christ. I think that’s really what people are looking for, is that place to walk with others closer to Christ, and I think small groups are the avenue.”

A typical small group organized through PECS will consist of six to 12 people. Regular meetings roughly an hour and a half long will emphasize “prayer and authentic, communitybuilding encounter with Christ,” according to planning materials.

Decisions about meeting times and locations will be made by small group members, Deacon Michalak said.

A small group meeting will consist of seven “moments,” according to the Office of Synod Evangelization. The meeting will open with praise and song.

Next will be a sharing of how individual group members have seen God working in their lives and how they’ve responded, especially in sharing God’s love with others. Then, a pastor-approved teaching element that is in keeping with the magisterium of the Church can take place, followed by leader-facilitated discussion. Announcements, typically about ways the group can connect with the parish, will follow. Intercessory prayer for those in the group or others

and healing prayer to “respond to any promptings of the Holy Spirit to be able to pray for someone in a special way if they’re going through a particularly difficult time” will close the meeting, Miko said.

Though there is a structure to the PECS model, Deacon Michalak said it all “serves relationship. Groups serve a higher end. ... It’s relationship with God and relationship with others.”

Amato-Geib said she appreciates this structure.

“The formality of the seven moments, this is what takes you to deeper depths,” she said. “This emphasis on prayer, on song and praise, on intercessory prayer, that’s huge.

And that, in my opinion, has made a world of difference in what the small groups are going to do for the parish.”

Of the 12 Synod Evangelization Team (SET) members at a given parish in the archdiocese, the pastor appointed three to be the Executive Cell Team (ECT), or the core team to help lead the parish’s small group efforts in upcoming years. Small group leaders, meanwhile, include those among “the 72” — or those encouraged to carry out the Synod implementation at their parish — who participated in small group leader formation last year.

Four times in January, small group leaders will gather and emulate a small group meeting, walking through the meeting components with each other.

Intended for those in each archdiocesan parish who will lead Parish Evangelization Cells, the practicum is “sort of like scrimmages,” Deacon Michalak said.

As groups take shape in Lent, Deacon Michalak said the vision is for PECS groups ultimately to multiply.

“You get beyond 10 or 12 people (in a group), it’s time to divide; cells divide, they grow. They multiply. They’re living.

So, you’re always going to be generating — as a place of evangelization, awareness of God — in this very basic way. That’s the PECS specialty.”

Haraldson sees the future of small groups including growth beyond the parish. “That they continue to not just feed and renew the people within our pews, but they start to invite nonCatholics in, fallen away Catholics in,

Though the roughly eight or nine men are of different ages and have different occupations —some even have different faith backgrounds — “they’re all deep thinkers, spiritual folks,” Hoefer said.

During a meeting, the group reads Scripture and discusses its meaning. Members share their prayer intentions, “asking Jesus for his love and mercy” and close in prayer, Hoefer said.

Hoefer views the group as “such a needed apostolate because … there are dynamics in the world that make it difficult to figure out what is healthy masculinity. What’s it mean to be a responsible father? What’s it mean to be the spiritual head of the household? What’s it mean to be a man, and a faith-filled man, in today’s world?”

“There’s at least one guy in the group, maybe a couple, who say, and have said to me on more than one occasion, that this small group has become the most important thing in their week other than going to Mass,” Hoefer said. “I never would have expected that.”

The group is a way for these men to explore faith in depth.

“The importance of the small group model is really significant in light of this reality that folks have to find a way to live out their faith beyond the Mass,” Hoefer said.

other people in our own proximity, authentically.”

The PECS model is not intended to replace existing small group ministries at parishes.

“Sometimes there’s a misconception that these PECS small groups are supposed to be the only kind of way to do small groups or that they’re supposed to replace groups,” Miko said. “That’s not the case. ... You can have both flowers growing in the same field.”

“Don’t stop what you’re already doing, you don’t tear down or break something that’s working,” Deacon Michalak said.

“But as a way of enhancing the parish, and especially in a missionary or evangelistic mode, the archbishop has asked that Parish Evangelization Cells be established and that’s what’s going to be established, whether it’s one group in a parish or we have some parishes that are ready to roll with 15 or 20 (groups) right off the bat.”

In addition to the PECS small groups being established, Miko suggested existing groups might benefit from PLEASE TURN TO SMALL GROUPS ON PAGE 14

JANUARY 11, 2024

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 7

NATION+WORLD

Supreme Court reinstates Idaho’s near-total abortion ban to hear case backed by Catholic groups

By Gina Christian OSV News The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on Idaho’s near-total abortion ban, which the court temporarily reinstated after the Justice Department asserted the law conflicted with a federal statute on emergency medical care.

In a Jan. 5 order, the Supreme Court scheduled oral arguments regarding the ban for April 2024, while granting a stay on a preliminary injunction against the ban issued in August 2022.

Two emergency applications for a stay on the injunction — one filed by Idaho Speaker of the House Mike Moyle, the other by the State of Idaho — were consolidated by the Supreme Court in the Jan. 5 order.

Several Catholic organizations filed amicus briefs in support of Idaho’s case against the federal government, including the Catholic Health Care Leadership Alliance, the Catholic Bar Association and the Catholic Benefits Association.

At issue is Idaho’s “Defense of Life Act,” which bans abortion except in cases of rape, incest or where a physician deems the procedure medically necessary to save a pregnant woman’s life.

The law — which Moyle noted in his supplemental brief had “passed by a super-majority of the Idaho Legislature” — was enacted in 2020 and contained a “trigger” provision that activated it upon any Supreme Court ruling returning abortion law to state authority. Following the Supreme Court ruling in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case — which overturned the court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton abortion precedents — Idaho’s law was set to take effect in August 2022.

The Justice Department argued Idaho’s law conflicted with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA, under which hospitals that receive Medicare funding and have emergency rooms must provide “necessary stabilizing treatment for emergency medical conditions and labor.”

Among the conditions cited by the Justice Department as possibly necessitating abortion were “ectopic pregnancy, severe preeclampsia, or a pregnancy complication threatening septic infection or hemorrhage.”

In his supplemental brief, however, Moyle called the department’s argument against Idaho’s law “extraordinary” and “novel.”

“EMTALA is not a nationwide abortion mandate. It does not purport to impose nationwide standards of care,” he wrote, citing the federal law and case precedents. “Indeed, the only treatment specified in EMTALA is the delivery of an ‘unborn child,’ a life EMTALA also protects, for women in labor.”

Moyle also cited a previous federal court ruling determining “neither EMTALA’s text nor the Medicare Act as a whole prescribed abortions,” and that “the purpose of EMTALA is to provide emergency care to the uninsured.”

In a statement, President Joe Biden said that the court’s action “allows Idaho’s extreme abortion ban to go back

into effect and denies women critical emergency abortion care required by federal law.”

Biden claimed the Dobbs decision has led to “dangerous abortion bans like this one that continue to jeopardize women’s health, force them to travel out of state for care, and make it harder for doctors to provide care, including in an emergency.”

However, Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador, a Republican, said in a statement he is “very pleased and encouraged” by the Supreme Court’s decision to take up the case.

“The federal government has been wrong from day one,” Labrador said.

“Federal law does not preempt Idaho’s Defense of Life Act. In fact, EMTALA and Idaho’s law share the same goal: to save the lives of all women and their unborn children.”

Idaho Chooses Life, a pro-life political advocacy group, hailed the Supreme Court’s Jan. 5 order as a “historic win” and a “preliminary victory.”

What does the Vatican declaration on blessing irregular and same-sex couples say?

By Gina Christian OSV News The Vatican’s declaration permitting Catholic priests to give non-liturgical blessings to couples in same-sex or other irregular situations has sparked international reaction, both positive and negative. However, implementing the document’s intended understanding of its contents among Catholics —

particularly for those living in an increasingly less religious society — requires intentional catechesis explaining its finer theological and pastoral points.

“Fiducia Supplicans” (“Supplicating Trust”), subtitled “On the pastoral meaning of blessings,” was approved

by Pope Francis during a Dec. 18 audience with Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The document was published on the

Vatican’s website in Italian, English, Spanish, French and German. Twothirds of its 31 footnotes draw on previous writings and catechesis by Pope Francis, with almost one-third drawing from his July 2023 response to questions from Cardinal Raymond Burke and Cardinal Walter Brandmüller on the validity of the “widespread practice of blessing same-sex unions.”

Cardinal Fernández said in his introductory note that the dicastery

for Mass, confession and Eucharistic adoration.

P.J. Cronin, an Irish student from Cork, Ireland, told OSV News the biggest draw was seeing other young people practicing the Catholic faith — not something he sees in Ireland — and being reinvigorated by the experience. At a Jan. 4 press conference, Edward Sri, FOCUS’ senior vice president of apostolic outreach, said that a synodal approach is at the heart of FOCUS’ evangelical mission. “So much of what we’re doing is going to listen to people downstream,” he said. As SEEK24 drew to a close, FOCUS announced the theme for SEEK25, to be held in Salt Lake City, using the words Jesus speaks to his disciples in the Gospel: “Follow me.”

Revival, with the eastern route of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage — one of four that will converge at the July 21-24 National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis — named for the saint.

From June 5-6, the Seton shrine will host the pilgrims for two days of prayer, worship and acts of charity.

READ THE FULL TEXT The full text of “Fiducia Supplicans” can be found in English, Spanish, Italian, French and German on the Vatican’s website at press. vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/ pubblico/2023/12/18/0901/01963.html#en

PLEASE TURN TO BLESSINGS ON PAGE 14

HEADLINES Vatican doctrine official says priestly celibacy should be optional. The Catholic Church should revise its celibacy requirement for Latin-rite priests, a senior official in the Vatican’s doctrinal office said. “If it were up to me, I would revise the requirement that priest(s) have to be celibate,” said Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta, adjunct secretary of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, in an interview with the Times of Malta released Jan. 7. “Experience has shown me this is something we need to seriously think about.” The archbishop said that the phenomenon of Catholic priests engaging in hidden, long-term sentimental relationships — something he said “happens everywhere”— is a “symptom” of priests “having to cope with” their celibacy requirement. Archbishop Scicluna said the Latin-rite Church “should learn from the Catholic churches of the Oriental rite,” which have a tradition of married priests. Celibacy, Archbishop Scicluna said, “was optional for the first millennium of the Church’s existence, and it should become optional again.”

FOCUS leaders say synodality, listening to young people guided mission of SEEK24. A record number of attendees gathered at the Jan. 1-5 SEEK24 conference in downtown St. Louis, with excitement already mounting for the 2025 conference. Hosted by the Fellowship of Catholic University Students in this Missouri city for the second consecutive year, the conference drew more than 23,000 attendees, including 188 international participants. SEEK attendees participated in presentations and discussions about the Catholic faith led by globally recognized speakers, along with opportunities

Mother Seton, a “seeker, servant and saint,” is more relevant than ever, says shrine director.

The first canonized saint born in the U.S. is nearing her 250th birthday — and she’s more relevant than ever, said the executive director of her national shrine. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, foundress of the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph and a pioneer in Catholic education in the U.S., was “one of us”— a “seeker, servant and saint” — who “walked on the ground where we walk,” Rob Judge of the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg, Maryland, told OSV News. The shrine marked the saint’s Jan. 4 feast day with a televised Mass celebrated at its basilica by Auxiliary Bishop Bruce Lewandowski of Baltimore. The feast day also kicked off a two-year commemoration of both Mother Seton’s milestone birthday and the 50th anniversary of her canonization, which will fall in 2025. The commemoration will feature several events connected to the National Eucharistic

Vatican news agency reports 20 missionaries were murdered in 2023. In its annual report on Catholic missionaries murdered during the year, the Vatican-based news agency, Fides, noted what many of them had in common was living a normal life in areas where violence had become common. “They did not carry out any sensational actions or out-of-the-ordinary deeds that could have attracted attention and put them in someone’s crosshairs,” the report said. “They could have gone elsewhere, moved to safer places, or desisted from their Christian commitments, perhaps reducing them, but they did not do so, even though they were aware of the situation and the dangers they faced every day,” it added. Fides, the news agency of the Pontifical Mission Societies which is part of the Dicastery for Evangelization, reported Dec. 30 that 20 pastoral workers were killed in 2023: one bishop, eight priests, two religious brothers, one seminarian, one novice and seven laypeople.

The agency said its tally was slightly higher than in 2022 when it counted 18 missionaries who died violently. In the 2023 list, Fides included Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell, a native of Ireland who had been a priest and later a bishop in Los Angeles for 45 years. He was the co-founder of the Interdiocesan Immigration Task Force and a steadfast advocate for

immigrants and the marginalized.

Christian persecution is on the rise globally, but overlooked, says expert. Data shows that Christian persecution is on the rise globally — but that repression remains largely overlooked in the news cycle, one expert told OSV News.

“It is important to … remember persecuted Christians in many countries around the world.

Their suffering gets no coverage at all by major media,” said Joop Koopman, director of communications for Aid to the Church in Need.

Based in Brooklyn, the nonprofit ACN provides pastoral and humanitarian assistance to the persecuted church in more than 145 countries, working under the guidance of the pope. More than 360 million of the world’s estimated 2.6 billion Christians — or one in seven Christians globally — currently experience “high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith,” according to Open Doors U.S., an advocacy group that provides Bibles and support to persecuted Christians in more than 70 countries.

One in five Christians in Africa and two in five in Asia experience persecution, according to Open Doors, which notes that over the last three decades, the number of countries where Christians suffer high and extreme levels of persecution has almost doubled to 76. Based in Brooklyn, New York, in the U.S., the nonprofit ACN provides pastoral and humanitarian assistance to the persecuted church in more than 145 countries, working under the guidance of the pope.

— CNS and OSV News

8 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

JANUARY 11, 2024

RESPECTLIFE MCC stresses legislation and other initiatives to assist mothers, families in need

By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit

informed consent in writing requirement for an abortion, and the mandatory 24-hour waiting period before a woman can undergo an abortion. Is there legislation in the works to reverse those decisions?

As Catholics gather across the country in January for pro-life Masses and marches — including in Washington, D.C., Jan. 19 for the national March for Life and at the Minnesota State Capitol and Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul Jan. 22 for a march and prayer service — The Catholic Spirit asked Maggee Hangge, policy and public relations associate with the Minnesota Catholic Conference, to address the abortion landscape in Minnesota.

Hangge’s emailed responses:

Q The state’s Catholic bishops and Minnesota Catholic Conference fought hard against decisions by the Legislature and Gov. Tim Walz in January last year to codify a right to abortion in Minnesota for any reason and without limit on viability. What might the faithful do now to help end the right to abortion in this state?

A Some clarification is in order.

Minnesota was already bound by the 1995 state Supreme Court decision Doe v. Gomez — our own version of Roe v.

Wade. The decision protected the right to abortion as a matter of state law and mandated that indigent women could receive taxpayer funded abortions.

In 2023, Minnesota Democrats codified that decision when they passed into law the Protect Reproductive Options (PRO) Act so that if Gomez was overturned, abortion would continue.

And then they went a few steps further by protecting “reproductive freedom” more generally, which means that Minnesota courts have license to protect almost any choice one makes regarding the use of one’s reproductive organs, including, possibly, removing them.

And when this “fundamental” right is in conflict with other rights, such as parental rights or religious liberty, it is not clear which will prevail in court.

Notably, there is also no indication in the PRO Act that this so-called right of reproductive freedom is limited to adults. The PRO Act is extreme and dangerous, and the Catholic bishops’ letter in opposition to this law was read to all House members on the floor during the debate.

We also saw during the 2023 legislative session the removal of nearly all the statutory safeguards surrounding abortion that promote informed consent and protect women and girls from dangerous abortion providers.

Given the current political landscape, which makes the supply of abortion

COURTESY MINNESOTA CATHOLIC CONFERENCE

widely available, we must now redouble our efforts to reduce the demand for abortion at both the Capitol and in our parish communities. For example, some women procure abortions for economic reasons. To help lift this financial strain, we can work to pass bills such as a state income tax exemption on necessary baby items like cribs and car seats (HF2125 / SF2182). But it cannot stop there. If we desire to build a culture where every child is welcomed in life and respected by law, we must work to change hearts and minds. The practice of abortion cannot just be illegal, it must be unthinkable.

That is a challenge for each of us.

Q There was concern that Minnesota would become a destination state for abortions. Have you seen evidence that has happened?

A Minnesota has already become a

target destination for abortion tourism, and we will likely see that trend continue. This upward trend of abortion incidence can be seen from comparing the 2022 abortion report released by the Minnesota Department of Health with the 2021 report.

In 2021 and in recent years past, there were about 10,000 abortions per year in Minnesota. And the general trend was a slow decline in the number of abortions. In 2022, after Roe v. Wade

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was overturned and surrounding states started to limit abortion access, the number of abortions in our state increased by about 20 percent to around 12,000. Two thousand of the 12,000 abortions were performed on out-ofstate residents. This is a 50 percent increase over the previous year. About 900 of those individuals came from Wisconsin, 400 from North Dakota, 200 from Iowa, 150 from Texas, along with people from South Dakota, Florida, Nebraska, Michigan, Missouri and more.

Without any safeguards in place surrounding abortion practices, and abortion clinics popping up around our borders, as we have already seen in Moorhead, and even a mobile unit roaming the state, the number of abortions performed here on both residents and out-of-state individuals will likely continue to increase.

Q The Legislature left few care requirements in place for infants who survive attempted abortions. Can you remind us of where the state stands in this regard now?

A Although nearly all of the health and

safety protections surrounding abortion were repealed and are no longer law, a few laws were altered and left on the books. One of those laws is the formerly named “Born Alive Infant Protection Act.” The new version — “Recognition of an Infant Who is Born Alive” — is stripped of many of the protections previously afforded to infants born from botched abortions.

The law now states that an infant who is born should be recognized as a human person and that infant should receive standard, reasonable medical care. No definitions are tied to the statute, meaning what is considered “reasonable” is left vague. It is also unclear whether a baby who survived a botched abortion is considered born. This lack of clarity could be lifethreatening.

Q Lawmakers eliminated the

A Putting safeguards back into place, such as the 24-hour waiting period between requesting an abortion and the procedure, or Women’s Right to Know, would be quite difficult. The 2022 Doe v. Minnesota decision in Ramsey County District Court ruled these and other safeguards to be unconstitutional.

Unless that case is explicitly overturned or re-tried, and the composition of the Legislature changes, there is little path forward for these health and safety protections to return.

In the short term, as noted above, we must focus our work on the demand side of abortion by walking with mothers and families in need. At the Minnesota Catholic Conference, the public policy voice of the state’s bishops, we are working to enact policies that, among other things, reduce demand for abortion through our Families First Project. Legislation such as the Child Tax Credit, which passed in 2023 and was spearheaded by MCC, provides a tax credit or refund for each dependent child in a household if the household meets the income requirements.

Notably, there is no cap on how many children qualify for the credit. Lowincome families could see a tax credit of up to $1,750 per child. A family of eight with an $80,000 household income could receive $10,000 per year in tax credits.

Policies like these will help women and parents who find themselves facing an unexpected pregnancy feel more financially secure and supported if they choose life.

Q A pro-life United for Life rally and advocacy day was held for the first time in the State Capitol Feb. 28 last year as the care requirements and 24hour waiting period bills were set for debate. The rally drew nearly 700 prolife advocates, many of whom fanned out to visit with lawmakers. Any plans for a similar rally and lobbying this year?

A Although we have no immediate plans to host an identical rally at the Capitol this year, we always encourage Catholics to get to know their legislators and speak out on key issues. The Conference will again be hosting First Friday Adoration at the Capitol from January through May. This is a great opportunity for Catholics to come to the Capitol to pray for their elected officials and any pending legislation being deliberated. If they wish, attendees can walk upstairs to see the Legislature in action or go flag down their elected officials.

Q A Pro-Life Leadership Summit was held in Eden Prairie Sept. 27, 2023, with more than 140 pro-life leaders seeking a way forward. One key takeaway was a desire to build on common principles and identify new modes of collaboration among Q&A continued on next page

RESPECTLIFE

JANUARY 11, 2024

Q&A CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE pro-life groups, policy advocates, medical professionals, pregnancy resource center directors and others.

Have there been ongoing discussions?

Anything new to share?

to last through 2025 ended early and the pregnancy resource centers and pro-family organizations that budgeted for, and depended on, that money were short-changed. Catholic Charities of Southern Minnesota, for example, lost a major portion of its budget.

This is a call to all Catholics now more than ever to help the pregnancy centers in our local communities, and especially those that were grant recipients, so that they can continue to serve clients at no charge and maintain their offerings. Should the political makeup of our Legislature change in future years, perhaps this grant program could be re-instated. But that remains to be seen.

A The Pro-Life Summit was a productive step toward getting many different prolife organizations and individuals with unique missions in the same room to consider a more united path forward.

There were great collaboration and networking opportunities, along with an abundance of information collected.

We continue to collect data and receive input, which the Summit organizers are evaluating. The fruits of this event will hopefully be seen in the coming months and even years. It took 50 years as a country to overturn Roe v. Wade, and it could take us just as long as a state to end abortion and ensure that every child is welcomed in life and respected by law. That work begins now.

Q There also were efforts to complicate and make it less attractive for pro-life groups to apply for the state pregnancy resource center funding. Can you remind us of those efforts and what might be expected this year?

Q Pregnancy resource centers became

A There was a bill introduced in

the target last year of some abortion advocacy groups and lawmakers eliminated $3.3 million in “Positive Alternatives to Abortion” funding.

Who might propose that the funding be resumed?

A The Positive Alternative grant was

unfortunately fully repealed during the 2023 legislative session despite impactful testimony from many pregnancy resource center executive directors and clients throughout the state. The grant cycle that was expected

2023 that would have forced Positive Alternative grant recipients to refer for abortions, which goes against the core mission of many pregnancy resource centers. Since the grant was repealed during the final days of session, this bill did not move forward.

However, we are seeing bills in other states that threaten free speech at pregnancy resource centers. Such bills could effectively force pregnancy resource centers to refer for abortions as well. We will be on the lookout for this and other similar bills during the 2024

Extreme pro-abortion laws.

Increasing abortions in Minnesota.

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 9

legislative session.

Q Are there other abortion measures people should be concerned about in the session set to start Feb. 12?

A There is much chatter around

the Capitol and in the media about constitutional amendments. An attempt was made during the final days of the 2023 legislative session to combine an abortion ballot measure with the Equal Rights Amendment, which would both guarantee a right to abortion in our state Constitution and create new forms of nondiscrimination law when it comes to gender issues. The stand-alone Equal Rights Amendment, which, on its own, could also further entrench abortion rights, already passed the Minnesota Senate. If passed by the House, the questions would be on the ballot of every Minnesota voter. Whether we see these two amendments separately or combined, we are watching closely for both to come up for a vote one way or the other in 2024 and 2026.

Q A national March for Life in

Washington, D.C., will be held Jan. 19 and an annual march at the Minnesota State Capitol following an archdiocesan Prayer Service for Life at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul will take place Jan. 22. Given what happened in the Legislature last year, how would you characterize the importance of having voices heard in this way, this year and in years to come?

A Making your voice heard at the

Capitol — both state and federal — is vital. Praying for the cause is essential.

In addition, finding solidarity with our fellow pro-lifers is important and can be helpful. But beyond that, we need to get to know our legislators, the people who serve our respective districts. One easy way to do this is by joining the Catholic Advocacy Network (CAN), through which we send action alerts and opportunities to contact your legislators on key issues important to the state’s Catholic bishops. Our simple system allows you to send email messages, tweets, phone calls, and videos directly to your legislators with just a few clicks.

You can join CAN by visiting mncatholic. org/join.

We also encourage you to go a step further by attending town hall events, scheduling meetings with your legislators, and even engaging in conversation with legislators and candidates when they knock on your door during election season.

Q What might we not have covered that is important for the faithful to know?

A The pace that legislation moved

in 2023 was extremely fast, and we expect that trend to continue in 2024.

To keep up on what is going on at the Capitol — both with abortion and other legislative issues like physicianassisted suicide — join our Catholic Advocacy Network. You can also follow MCC on our social media accounts to stay updated on the latest events at the Capitol at X @MNCatholicConf and Instagram @MNCatholicConference.

Think outside the box.

What can we do?

As you plan your charitable giving for this year, consider putting away the checkbook. Your best gift option might be in your IRA.

MARCH FOR LIFE

If you’re age 70 ½ or older, you can make a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) from your traditional IRA — and see new tax benefits.

Call us to learn more about QCDs and charitable planning.

JAN. 22, 2024 | NOON

MINNESOTA STATE CAPITOL Join thousands of Minnesotans for an unforgettable visual commemoration and an urgent public witness to the sanctity of every human life

LEARN MORE AT MCCL.ORG/MARCH

651.389.0300 ccf-mn.org

IRA

RESPEC

10 • JANUARY 11, 2024

Prayer, action drive pro-life marches,

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

People march from the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul to the Minnesota State Capitol for the annual March for Life in 2023 sponsored by Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life.

By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit

H

igh school senior Noah Schoenfelder started each morning of last year’s trip from the Archdiocsese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to the National March for Life in Washington, D.C., with an hour of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.

“The encounter with Christ on this trip is close and personal ... That greatly affected how the trip went for me,” said Schoenfelder, who was a student leader on the trip and will be again for this year’s March for Life. The event draws tens of thousands of people from across the country and will include Schoenfelder, his sister, Nina, and a dozen other students and three adults from Unity Catholic High School in Burnsville.

Joining the Unity contingent for the Jan. 16-21 trip will be high schoolers and adults from Epiphany in Coon Rapids and St. Joseph in West St. Paul, for a total of 37 pilgrims — 26 students and 11 adults. Auxiliary Bishop Michael Izen will be at the march and will spend time with the pilgrims.

“The fight for life is something that cannot be overlooked,” Schoenfelder said in an email of the

importance of going back to Washington. “It is one of the great attacks on our world in this day and age, and we must be able to stand for those who cannot stand for themselves.”

June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned its Jan. 22, 1973, Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion across the country and prompted the prayers and protest of the annual March for Life. The high court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling effectively handed abortion issues back to the states, resulting in some states acting to restrict access to abortion. But Minnesota has taken steps to make abortion more accessible (see pages 8-9), a fact that has disappointed but not overly discouraged pro-life activists, including the Schoenfelder siblings and other students at Unity.

“I am extremely disappointed with our state Legislature,” said Nina Schoenfelder, a sophomore.

“However, we are fighting hard and will not be silenced or discouraged.”

Allison Williams — a junior at Unity who, like the Schoenfelders, will be making her second trip to the march in Washington — said that the “extremity of abortion, especially in Minnesota, is sometimes overwhelming to think about. However,

discouragement does not mean” that she lacks hope, Williams said by email.

“I know that as long as we continue to push back against abortion, there is the very real possibility of enacting change, and I think Roe v. Wade’s overturning only marked the beginning of such change,” she said.

Katie Blando, director of student life and academics at Unity Catholic, will be a chaperone for the trip along with her husband, Mark. The trip provides important opportunities to teach students how to have respectful conversations with people who are pro-choice, Blando said.

“It is trying to approach the discussion as a pursuit of truth and not an argument to win,” she said. “Abortion is an evil. But most pro-choice people think it’s the compassionate thing (to do)” — which might open the possibility of convincing them that abortion is not the most compassionate option, she said.

It is inspiring for students to see the vast number of young people at the march, Blando said. “Looking out and seeing so many young people there, I think, was invigorating for them,” she said.

Bill Dill, youth discipleship director in the archdiocese’s Office of Marriage, Family and Youth, which organizes the trip, will help lead the group. Each is organized

CTLIFE

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 11

help for the unborn and their parents

COURTESY RENEE SCHOENFELDER

Nina Schoenfelder, a sophomore this year at Unity Catholic, and her brother, Noah, a senior at the school, hold signs at the beginning of the 2023 March for Life in Washington.

COURTESY KERRY WILLIAMS, UNITY CATHOLIC

Allison Williams, a junior this year at Unity Catholic High School in Burnsville, rides the shoulders of schoolmate Andrew Gansler, a senior this year, at the Jan. 20, 2023, March for Life in Washington, D.C. Gansler’s classmate Noah Schoenfelder is looking on. around three pillars: Prayer, learning and action, he said.

“We’re there to represent the love of Christ, the action of Christ,” Dill said. There is fellowship, prayer, adoration of the Eucharist, singing and dancing, confession and Mass. “All the goodness of Catholic life is right there in those six days,” he said.

pro-life efforts. This year’s winners are Robert Loch of St. Agnes in St. Paul (adult pro-life individual), Dennis and Margaret Adrian of St. Francis de Sales in St. Paul (pro-life couple), Tom Cassidy of St. Joseph of the Lakes in Lino Lakes (adult pro-life professional), and the Youth Pro-life Group at St. Charles Borromeo in St. Anthony (pro-life youth group).

Local march and prayer service

A collection will be taken at the prayer service to benefit the archdiocese’s Life Fund grants program, which supports women who are pregnant or caring for a newborn by meeting one-time needs such as purchasing a crib or making a car, rent or mortgage payment, Flomo said.

As high school students and their chaperones prepare to travel to Washington, Sonya Flomo of the Office of Marriage, Family and Youth and others with the archdiocese are preparing for the annual Prayer Service for Life at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. The Jan. 22, 10:30 a.m. service will be followed at noon by the annual March for Life at the nearby Minnesota State Capitol, sponsored by Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL).

“Unfortunately, we have to (continue to) commemorate the date of Roe v. Wade, because abortion is still here in Minnesota,” Flomo said.

Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Willliams will preside at the prayer service, which will include the annual St. John Paul II Champions for Life Awards presented to three individuals and a group recognized for their

“We have to support the pregnant mom as well,” Flomo said. “We need to wrap our arms around her and support her and let her know she is not alone. We are here to help her.”

The prayer service and MCCL March for Life draw thousands of people each year, and MCCL officials said this year’s crowd could be larger than usual. “We’re getting lots and lots of interest, busses arranged to bring people to St. Paul and so forth,” said Paul Stark, MCCL spokesman.

This year’s march in St. Paul will include inviting

people to place 12,000 life-size baby models on display to draw attention to an increase in abortions in Minnesota since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, Stark said in an email exchange. Until 12,000 abortions were performed in the state in 2022, there were about 10,000 abortions annually in recent years in Minnesota.

“The 12,000 baby models will be a powerful commemoration and a public witness to the sanctity of human life, and we need as many pro-lifers there as possible,” Stark said.

MCCL also has been offering “Save the 12,000” pro-life presentations in Minnesota since last summer, Stark said.

“We are eager to give pro-life presentations (whether the ‘Save the 12,000’ presentation or others) to as many churches and other audiences as we can,” he said.

In addition to praying, marching and sharing information, Nina and Noah Schoenfelder and Allison Williams are among students at Unity Catholic who are helping make it easier for women and men to choose life for their children. They are members and leaders of their high school’s Pro-Life Club, which among other things organizes diaper, baby bottle and other drives for pregnancy resource center Guiding Star Wakota in West St. Paul.

The goal of the pro-life movement, Noah Schoenfelder said, is to destroy “the culture of death that has been so ingrained into society.”

“We need a culture of life,” he said, “and to get that culture we need to be active. Especially active in our schools, on social media and in our communities.”

12 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

RESPECTLIFE

JANUARY 11, 2024

Together for Good helps Christians walk alongside families in need

By Susan Klemond For The Catholic Spirit Adrienne Hollis, 34, had to leave her son, Vladislav (Vlad) Cook, two days after giving birth to him last March to continue serving a sentence at the women’s prison in Shakopee. She didn’t get to meet the Minneapolis couple who would care for her son while she was away.

Soon after Hollis returned to prison, doctors discovered Vlad had an intestinal deformation and needed immediate surgery. Hollis’ worry as a mother was compounded by the fact that she couldn’t be with her son.

She called Vlad’s caregivers, Sarah and David Hoffner, who were with him in the neonatal intensive care unit at Children’s Hospital in St. Paul.

The couple are trained volunteers who provide respite or longer-term childcare for vulnerable families through a St. Paul-based nonprofit called Together for Good. Founded in the Twin Cities in 2017, the ministry works with Christian churches in Minnesota, Iowa and Texas.

Hollis said she felt an immediate connection when she spoke with Sarah Hoffner.

“I could just tell how warm and loving and caring she was, just through her phone conversations,” said Hollis, who was imprisoned for second-degree drug possession. “I was really grateful to her for stepping up and taking that role in my son’s life that he needed.”

After his surgery, Hollis saw Vlad and met the Hoffners in person. They were in frequent contact before Hollis’ Nov. 27 release from prison, a connection that has continued. Vlad has been doing fine since a second surgery when he was 3 months old, said Sarah Hoffner, 44.

The Hoffner family, including their three teenage children, have enjoyed caring for Vlad.

“He’s a joy to be around,” David Hoffner said. “He’s been a real gift to us.”

For the last six years, the Hoffners have periodically hosted children through Together for Good, with help from other members of their church, the Anglican Church of the Cross in Hopkins. They and members of other Christian churches walk alongside expectant mothers, women and families in crisis and families at risk of being separated.

“There’s an unfounded narrative that Christians only care about the unborn,

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Adrienne Hollis, center, holds her son, Vladislav Cook, while surrounded by, clockwise from lower left, Owen, Sarah, Lucy, David and Josiah Hoffner in their south Minneapolis home Jan. 3. The Hoffners have been providing foster care for Cook through a program called Together for Good, a St. Paul-based organization that, according to its website, offers services like foster care to provide “practical help and relational support for parents and their children.” that they don’t care once a child is born,” said Lucy Olson, Twin Cities director of Together for Good. “We want to disrupt that narrative through love.

We have found a path, and we believe everyone can do something.”

Together for Good was founded by a pro-life mother named Maridel Sandberg, who adopted five of her eight children. She realized that with support, some mothers in crisis can build a family instead of placing their children in adoption, Olson said.

More than 30 Twin Cities churches work with Together for Good, and about 80 churches in total participate in the ministry’s three locations. Few of the churches are Catholic, but Olson said she believes Together for Good can appeal to Catholics who want to help families.

“I feel like this is so in line with the Catholic heart for the pro-life cause and for the poor that it would really be wonderful to have more of those Catholic families,” she said.

Kelly Allgaier, 64, said she and another parishioner at St. Therese in Deephaven have hosted children through Together for Good.

In 2023, Allgaier hosted the same two

Offering life-affirming support, information and encouragement to families facing an adverse diagnosis of a child

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P.O. Box 2225 • Maple Grove, MN 55311 763-772-3868 www.prenatalpartnersforlife.org

Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services

Support • Information • Encouragement

young siblings four times to give their mother short breaks every four to six weeks. Allgaier remembered raising her own three kids while her husband, John, now a deacon in the archdiocese, was traveling for work.

“What a treat that was for someone to keep the toddlers safe and cook dinner when I couldn’t go to the grocery store by myself,” she said. “It’s simple for me to do (now) yet could provide so much for (a mother in need).”

The two siblings they were helping last year won’t be returning, however, because their mother is no longer in the program, Allgaier said.

“It’s really God’s plan” regarding hosting in the future, she said. “I’m there to serve, so whatever the need is, I’m open.”

In many cases, helping parents and children stay together is better than separating them, and childcare can help parents get back on their feet, she said.

Providing shorter-term services for families in crisis fills a gap in the foster care system, Olson said. In the Twin Cities alone, Together for Good receives 1,000 calls each year from doctors,

hospitals, nurses, social workers, county agencies and Child Protective Services, and the organization helps about 200 families annually, Olson said.

A high percentage of the calls — almost all of them involving single mothers — come from parents facing eviction and homelessness, she said.

Together for Good also helps many women in crisis pregnancies, Olson said.

“I have had women say to me I feel I don’t have a choice,” Olson said. “I have to have an abortion because I can’t care for another baby. And we say to them, ‘We want you to have a real option. If you don’t want to abort, we want you to know that we will walk alongside you and we will support you.’ We don’t want anyone to feel that they have no other option other than abortion. We want them to know that if that if they choose life, they will have support.”

Volunteers with Together for Good serve as ministry coordinators, host families, helpers of host families supplying meals, rides and other aid or occasional helpers who deliver PLEASE TURN TO TOGETHER ON PAGE 19

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JANUARY 11, 2024

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 13

FAITH+CULTURE St. Paul poet turns the lens to her Catholic upbringing

By Christina Capecchi For The Catholic Spirit Maryann Corbett, 73, made a career working as a language specialist for the Office of the Revisor of Statutes at the Minnesota Legislature, helping attorneys write in plainer English. In her 50s, the St. Paul mother of two began writing poetry, enjoying early success with the publication of poems and, at 62, the publication of her first book. Franciscan University Press published Corbett’s latest book — her sixth — last summer. Titled “The O in the Air,” it explores her doubts, beliefs and Catholic upbringing. She is a member of St. Thomas More in St. Paul.

Q What do you love about the Catholic faith?

A The liturgy is the best thing, and I love that the Church has connections with centuries of art and music and poetry without losing a focus on the plain sense of the Gospels. I love that the liturgy involves repetition and that its use of the Scriptures provides us with a fund of shared stories.

Q How did growing up Catholic attune you to poetry?

A The use of words in the liturgy attunes you to the prosody, to the rhythm of words when they’re spoken aloud. It was a big driver of my sense of poetics. When we were small children, before Vatican II, we were singing Latin liturgical music.

We learned to sing the Gloria from the Mass of the Angels. There are still prayers that I remember more from their rhythms than anything else.

Q What did it feel like to take up poetry in your 50s?

A I had been silent for 30 years. I had a lot of experience to mine (for writing). I felt like I had to be quiet during my work life in what I said because the revisor’s office is a nonpartisan office and one has to be circumspect about avoiding appearing partisan. So, after I retired, it was nice to feel more free.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

A Poetry makes me look with critical eyes — even

clinical eyes — so that I can get behind what I’m observing to what I’m feeling. I never really stopped going back to those feelings of childhood.

I want to get back to the difficulties I had with the Church and faith and my parents during my childhood and fix them and rebaptize them.

Q What helps you grow in your faith?

Q Where do you write?

A Learning constantly and reading widely. I am

object. And I’m proud that I’ve managed to make a unified whole of poems that were written over a long period of time, probably a dozen years. (The) putting together of manuscripts is difficult, but this one was especially a bear.

The idea of “the O in the air” comes from the fact that so many prayers begin with O — “O, Lord.” It also looks like a zero, which represents the idea that God can seem absent. The book is very much about grappling with the difficulties that the Church presents and the question that God raises by feeling distant.

A I write in the morning in my pajamas in a converted bedroom at a desk that’s too small, surrounded by books on all sides — other people’s poetry, reference books, old textbooks from my graduate and undergraduate years, books in several languages, ancient and medieval. If I start to write, I’m going to be doing it with a pen, mostly on paper taken from the pile of old scrap paper that I have stacked under my desk. I’ll keep on drafting until I think I’ve got something that looks like a whole poem, or at least an embryo, and only then do I put it down in an electronic document. The physicality of a pen is extremely important to me. I know that words flow better when ink flows.

The good stuff does not all come at once, and revision is vitally important — and looking for particular kinds of changes that one can make like introducing alliteration — “the crumbs of the Christmas season,” that’s an improvement that might dawn on you later on — or introducing a more interesting verb, like “the knitting of reasons” instead of “the combining of reasons,” something more tactile.

I want to be more patient with my poems, revising longer, being more hesitant to actually send them out. But I’ve been saying that as long as I’ve been writing.

Q What do you hope readers will get out of it?

Q Your new book includes a poem called

Q The publication of those first few poems must have felt validating.

A Yes, and it still does. I’m much too dependent on

those pats on the head.

Q Tell me about your new book.

A I’m proud of it because it’s a beautiful physical

A I hope they conclude that their own struggles or

“Knowledge,” which is about the annulment your mom received after waiting half a century.

Q The snow-covered field on the cover feels fitting for this season, as we sink into a new year and look back on the past one.

A It was terrifically important to her. I remember that she called to tell me about it. I wish that the ’50s Church had been able to have a more (Pope) Francis-like attitude toward people whose lives just don’t fit the Church’s ideal “Going My Way”

doubts or uncertainties are absolutely normal and that we’re all sort of floating around searching.

and “Bells of St. Mary’s” vision of what families should be. Mom attended Mass every Sunday and never received Communion. So many people in her position would’ve just given up on the Church. She said: “I’m Catholic. I can’t be anything else.”

focused right now on Church history, and I would especially recommend the books of John W. O’Malley, who has written about the story of Vatican II.

Q You found an outlet for your faith by singing in the choir at the Cathedral (of St. Paul in St. Paul). Does that feel like prayer?

A Yes, especially choral singing because you’re taken out of yourself and you’ve become part of this much larger sound. The Cathedral is just a wonderful place to sing because it’s so reverberant and resonant. The acoustics are amazing.

Q What has surprised you about aging?

A It’s logistically difficult. With my husband’s Parkinson’s, we learn something every day about the limits of our coping.

Q What do you know for sure?

A I’m trying to be less sure and more open to new ideas, to be shaken out of my standards of thinking.

I’m trying to not be so absolute. I’m old. I’m set in my ways. I’m trying not to be so set.

Q How do you go about that?

A Right now, my life is doing that for me — all the challenges it presents, particularly the health challenges. It’s like being whacked upside the head approximately weekly.

When you’re less sure that you absolutely know, you might possibly listen to other people more. It’s a matter of love. If you don’t really listen, you don’t really love.

FAITH+CULTURE

14 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

BLESSINGS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 had repeatedly received questions over the past few years about priestly blessings for same-sex and other unmarried couples. The declaration provides “new clarifications” of the February 2021 “Responsum ad dubium” his office had issued on the question under its former prefect, Cardinal Luis Ladaria Ferrer.

The 2021 document ruled such blessings as inadmissible for both same-sex and unmarried couples “that involve sexual activity outside of marriage,” since “they would constitute a certain imitation or analogue” of the sacramental marriage blessing and thereby acknowledge the unions as licit. However, the response did not preclude “blessings given to individual persons with homosexual inclinations, who manifest the will to live in fidelity to the revealed plans of God as proposed by Church teaching.”

Here’s how the new declaration — just over 5,600 words in its English translation — drills down on the pastoral nature of blessings with respect to Pope Francis’ pastoral vision, and reaches its conclusion.

From the outset, the declaration makes clear that the Catholic Church’s understanding of marriage has not changed.

The text explicitly states in multiple places that “the Church’s perennial teaching on marriage” — defined as the “exclusive, stable, and indissoluble union between a man and a woman, naturally open to the generation of children” — remains firm. Such assertions are found in 18 sentences, from the document’s initial section through paragraphs 4-6, 11, 26, 31, 38 and 39.

The document further emphasizes the difference between sacramental

SMALL GROUPS

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6

adding an element of PECS into their group meetings.

Why invite groups to form in Lent?

Lent is “a time of drawing closer to the Lord and what better way to draw closer to the Lord than alongside other people?”

Miko said. “I think Lent is a very apropos time to really walk alongside others as we learn more about Christ, as we ultimately encounter Christ.”

The hope is small groups will meet

JANUARY 11, 2024

marriage and “irregular situations,” including “same-sex couples,” in some 14 places (paragraphs 4-6, 11, 26, 27, 30, 31, 38 and 39).

With respect to blessing such couples, in paragraph 4, the text states that “rites and prayers that could create confusion between what constitutes marriage … and what contradicts it are inadmissible.”

The text states that the Church’s pastoral understanding of blessings has been expanded, offering a means of blessing same-sex and irregular couples without sacramentally validating their relationships.

Most of the document explores the nature of blessings, which it describes as “among the most widespread and evolving sacramentals” (paragraph 8). Through “a broadening and enrichment of the classical understanding of blessings,” the document extends “the pastoral vision of Pope Francis” to offer “a real development from what has been said about blessings in the Magisterium and the official texts of the Church.”

That context, in turn, permits understanding “the possibility of blessing couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples without officially validating their status or changing in any way the Church’s perennial teaching on marriage.”

Specifically, the document distinguishes between liturgical and non-liturgical blessings, and between their theological and pastoral dimensions.

Blessings are defined in the Catechism of the Catholic Church as “sacramentals,” which unlike sacraments do not confer the grace of the Holy Spirit but rather “prepare us to receive grace and dispose us to cooperate with it” (No. 1670).

The document notes that “when a blessing is invoked on certain human

relationships by a special liturgical rite, it is necessary that what is blessed corresponds with God’s designs written in creation and fully revealed by Christ the Lord” (paragraph 11). As a result, the same passage states “the Church does not have the power to confer its liturgical blessing when that would somehow offer a form of moral legitimacy to a union that presumes to be a marriage or to an extra-marital sexual practice.”

At the same time, the document states that “one must also avoid the risk of reducing the meaning of blessings to this point of view alone, for it would lead us to expect the same moral conditions for a simple blessing that are called for in the reception of the sacraments” (paragraph 12).

The text considers blessings in a non-liturgical context, drawing on Scripture to highlight them as “the divine gift that ‘descends,’ the human thanksgiving that ‘ascends,’ and the blessing imparted by man that ‘extends’ toward others” (paragraph 17).

Asking for a blessing shows that one is “in need of God’s saving presence,” and seeking a blessing from the Church acknowledges that “the life of the Church springs from the womb of God’s mercy,” the document states (paragraph 20).

Quoting a December 2020 catechesis

by Pope Francis on blessing, the document states that from a pastoral care perspective, blessings should be centered on an understanding that “it is God who blesses,” and that “we are more important to God than all the sins we can commit because he is father, he is mother, he is pure love, he has blessed us forever. And he will never stop blessing us.”

This provides the context for understanding that “when people ask for a blessing, an exhaustive moral analysis should not be placed

as a precondition for conferring it. ... Those seeking a blessing should not be required to have prior moral perfection” (paragraph 25).

The text makes clear that any blessings given to couples in irregular situations, including those of the same sex, should not be ritualized or stylized to invoke the sacrament of matrimony.

The document rules out any type of fixed, official blessing rite (paragraph 31), and it also states that such blessings “should never be imparted in concurrence with the ceremonies of a civil union, and not even in connection with them” (paragraph 39).

In addition, the same passage says, the blessing of irregular unions cannot “be performed with any clothing, gestures, or words that are proper to a wedding.”

Instead, the blessing should be sought by those who “do not claim a legitimation of their own status” but “beg that all that is true, good and humanly valid in their lives and their relationships be enriched, healed, and elevated by the presence of the Holy Spirit” (paragraph 31).

While “Fiducia Supplicans” is intended to offer “a specific and innovative contribution to the pastoral meaning of blessings,” the question of whether that contribution will be grasped by Catholics without a thoroughgoing catechesis is another matter, especially where religious belief and practice continue to contract.

Several Pew Research studies in recent years have indicated an overall decline in religious affiliation among U.S. residents, and a significant decline among U.S. Catholics’ belief in the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.

A 2016 Pew study found that conscience, rather than Church teaching, Scripture or papal instruction, was cited by almost 75% of U.S. Catholics as the main resource for their

beyond Lent.

“Some questions we’ve received are, ‘Well, are these groups only for Lent or are they meant to go after Easter? How long?’” Deacon Michalak said. “And to sort of be a little humorous: ‘Well, how long are you alive? Are you going to be a disciple of Jesus forever?’ Small groups are meant to go on and on.”

Haraldson said she is “filled with hope” thinking about the implementation of small groups.

“Imagine what it could be to increase our archdiocese even by 10 small groups.

By 50,” Haraldson said. “We have (over) 180 parishes in our archdiocese. If every single one of them has one small group ... you can’t tell me that that many people are not going to change something. It will, in a good way.”

To someone discerning whether to join a small group, Amato-Geib has these words: “The benefits of having a deeper relationship with Christ bring unprecedented joy and peace no matter what storm may rise.”

“Your faith becomes a way of life, not something just for Sunday,” she

said. “And it’s not just for you, it’s for everybody in your path.”

The members of the Office of Synod Evangelization encourage those interested in joining a small group to take the first step and attend a meeting.

“Don’t stress yourself so much with it. Just come and see. Just give it a try.

I believe the Lord will do the rest,” Haraldson said.

“Come and see; that’s the invitation,” Deacon Michalak said. “It’s not: read everything, understand it all ... no, it’s: Come and see.”

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THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 15

FOCUSONFAITH SUNDAY SCRIPTURES | FATHER LEONARD ANDRIE

A true prophet has arrived Our first reading this Sunday gives us an endearing vignette with little Samuel sleeping in the temple. We are told that the voice of the Lord was uncommon or “rare” in the early days of Samuel’s life. God’s revelation, and particularly his voice, is a gift. While proper discernment is needed, sometimes God’s silence can be a way of disciplining leaders whose hearts have grown cold.

While not in our verses this Sunday, we learn from 1 Samuel that the lamp of God was not extinguished. Think of the perpetual candle by our tabernacle. When the candle is low, it is nearly out but not extinguished. Israel was experiencing dark times with the priest Eli and his two immoral sons. However, the light of God was not extinguished as God was raising a prophet who would be faithful to him. It is comforting to know that the Lord always has someone ready to renew his people.

Interestingly, Samuel sleeps near the ark. Even as a young boy, he is comfortable in the Lord’s presence. But even as a youth frequently in God’s presence, he still needs to be mentored. God will work through Eli, a less-than-dynamic priest, to mentor young Samuel. As a seminarian, I remember complaining to a priest about a priest who notoriously taught heresy and did outlandish things liturgically. The priest I spoke with could not disagree with my complaints but said to look for at least some good in the priest. In this case, he had a terrific bedside manner with those who were sick and dying. Even

FAITH FUNDAMENTALS | FATHER MICHAEL VAN SLOUN

The call to be a deacon

The call to be a deacon comes from God. There is no one way that the call comes to a particular person, so it is important to be on the lookout for signs and then subject the signs to discernment.

Sometimes the sign is clear and easy to see.

A reputable man might be touched by the inspiring ministry and outstanding example of a good and holy deacon and think, “Wouldn’t it be great to serve like him?” Or a man might have great zeal as a lay minister at his parish, and a fellow parishioner or his pastor may approach and pose the question, “Have you ever thought of being a deacon?”

A man’s wife, who has a privileged inside look at the depth of his faith and his desire to please God, might say, “My dear, I think you have what it takes to be a deacon.” Or a man might see an advertisement promoting the diaconate in the diocesan newspaper or a vocational poster and have a dawning awareness, “I could do that! Maybe God is calling me.”

Sometimes the call is more subtle. A man might be praying with Scripture and read the account of Jesus humbly serving his disciples when he washed their feet (Jn 13:1-15), or the call of Stephen and the first deacons (Acts 6:1-7), or the description of the baptism of the Ethiopian by Philip the deacon (Acts 8:26-40), and in his contemplation, feel drawn to serve as a deacon. Or a man may be living a lifestyle of generosity and service and feel God nudging him to take his generosity and service to a deeper level. Or the diaconate may be an idea that pops into his mind, and instead of being a fleeting thought that comes and goes, it keeps coming back.

Once a person’s curiosity is aroused or an inner desire begins to burn, the time has come to begin the discernment process,

with those who have lost their way, always look for some good in them.

When the Lord spoke, his voice sounded like Eli’s. This may suggest that God speaks through his priests, even when they are weak or corrupt. Even though Eli fails to discipline his children and makes rash judgments (e.g., he believed Hannah was drunk while praying), God works through him to mentor Samuel.

Samuel responds to each call with “Here I am.” Notice young Samuel’s docility and willingness to serve the Lord. He even “runs” to speak with Eli. His mother, Hannah, would be very proud.

Unfortunately, our lectionary cuts out quite a few verses (1 Sm 3:11-18). The Lord tells little Samuel that he is about to do something in Israel that will make everyone’s ears “tingle.” This was a Jewish idiom for extremely bad news. What God is about to do will make people’s ears shake.

God tells Samuel that because Eli failed to discipline his sons who were blaspheming God, his house will be condemned once and for all (1 Sm 3:13). Poor Samuel had to deliver this news to Eli the next day. Needless to say, it is not easy being a prophet.

Finally, we hear that Samuel grew up and the Lord was with him, not permitting any word to go unfulfilled. All of Israel, from Dan (northern border city) to Beersheba (southern border city) acknowledged Samuel’s status as a prophet. The lack of divine revelation that weighed Israel down for years is coming to an end. Israel will receive the words of God again through the prophet Samuel.

Unlike Eli, Samuel will be bold and courageous in delivering God’s words, including his expectations, for his people. With the prophet Samuel, a new stage in God’s plan of salvation has begun. As God worked through little Samuel, so he wants to work through you as well.

Father Andrie is pastor of St. Therese in Deephaven.

and there are three essential elements: conversations with God, one’s wife if married, and representatives of the diocese. Personal prayer is indispensable since the call comes from God, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit is needed to determine God’s will.

A conversation with one’s wife is imperative. Her support is crucial because she will be involved in the formation process and be his partner for the entire journey. A conversation with representatives of the diocese is necessary because they handle application, acceptance, formation, evaluation, approval and placement.

It is valuable to involve others in the exploratory process. It would be beneficial to discuss a possible call to the diaconate with one’s spiritual director, a deacon, one’s pastor, another priest, others in one’s family, a trusted friend, a fellow parishioner, or a coworker.

If a person would like to further investigate the diaconate in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the next step is to contact the coordinator of diaconate vocations and attend a Deacon Discernment Day. It is for men ages 25 to 59. Spouses are encouraged to attend. It is held by the Institute for Diaconate Formation at The St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul. It is offered twice each year, once in the fall and again in the spring. It is held on a Saturday and is a full-day program.

The topics are: What is a deacon? Who can become a deacon? How does one discern the Lord’s call to holy orders?

What is the application and formation process? How are holy orders integrated with marriage and family? There are multiple presenters. There is ample opportunity for questions and answers.

If, after taking these steps and further reflection, a person feels called by God to serve as a deacon, he is encouraged to begin the application process.

DAILY Scriptures Sunday, Jan. 14 Second Sunday in Ordinary Time 1 Sm 3:3b-10, 19 1 Cor 6:13c-15a, 17-20 Jn 1:35-42 Monday, Jan. 15 1 Sm 15:16-23 Mk 2:18-22 Tuesday, Jan. 16 1 Sm 16:1-13 Mk 2:23-28 Wednesday, Jan. 17 Memorial of St. Anthony, abbot 1 Sm 17:32-33, 37, 40-51 Mk 3:1-6 Thursday, Jan. 18 1 Sm 18:6-9; 19:1-7 Mk 3:7-12 Friday, Jan. 19 1 Sm 24:3-21 Mk 3:13-19 Saturday, Jan. 20 2 Sm 1:1-4, 11-12, 19, 23-27 Mk 3:20-21 Sunday, Jan. 21 Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Jon 3:1-5, 10 1 Cor 7:29-31 Mk 1:14-20 Monday, Jan. 22 Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children 2 Sm 5:1-7, 10 Mk 3:22-30 Tuesday, Jan. 23 2 Sm 6:12b-15, 17-19 Mk 3:31-35 Wednesday, Jan. 24 Memorial of St. Francis de Sales, bishop and doctor of the Church 2 Sm 7:4-17 Mk 4:1-20 Thursday, Jan. 25 Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle Acts 22:3-16 or Acts 9:1-22 Mk 16:15-18 Friday, Jan. 26 Memorial of Sts. Timothy and Titus, bishops 2 Tm 1:1-8 or Ti 1:1-5 Mk 4:26-34 Saturday, Jan. 27 2 Sm 12:1-7a, 10-17 Mk 4:35-41 Sunday, Jan. 28 Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Dt 18:15-20 1 Cor 7:32-35 Mk 1:21-28

Father Van Sloun is the director of clergy personnel for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. This column is part of a series on the sacrament of holy orders.

KNOW the SAINTS ST. HILARY OF POITIERS (315-368) This bishop and theologian, a highly cultivated pagan who became a Christian, was elected bishop of his native Poitiers, in France, at age 35, while his wife was still living. For his unswerving opposition to Arianism, the heresy that Jesus Christ was in some way subordinate to God, he was banished to Asia Minor in 356 by an Arian emperor. He continued to study Greek theology and oppose Arianism and was sent back to France for being a “mischief-maker.” He left extensive writings and was named a doctor of the Church in 1851. His feast day is Jan. 13.

— OSV

16 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

JANUARY 11, 2024

COMMENTARY ECHOES OF CATHOLIC MINNESOTA | REBA LUIKEN

The Diocese of St. Paul once stretched into what is now North Dakota In late December 1860, Bishop Thomas Grace received an extremely concerning letter at his residence in St. Paul.

It had come from St. Boniface (now better known as Winnipeg), the citysee of the diocese to the north, and it relayed the injuries of one of Bishop Grace’s priests, Father Joseph Goiffon.

Father Goiffon was pastor of Pembina along the Red River at the northern edges of Minnesota Territory. He had just traveled over 700 miles on horseback as part of an ox-cart train from Pembina to St. Paul and back again over the course of two months.

Anxious to get back to his parish by the end of October, Father Goiffon had ridden out ahead of the party on his horse without provisions and had been trapped in a blizzard a few miles outside of Pembina.

While he prayed to be rescued, he waited for nearly five days in the snow, surviving by eating parts of his horse.

When a cart train finally caught up to him, he was delirious and facing severe frostbite, so they put him on a dogsled and pulled him all the way to the bishop in St. Boniface for medical attention. There, he had his right leg amputated below the knee along with part of his left foot.

The letter told only half of the story. After recovering from surgery for about a week, Father Goiffon’s condition took a turn for the worse, and one of his arteries started hemorrhaging. Doctors could find no way to stop the bleeding, so he was given last rites and expected to die within the hour. Meanwhile, another

crisis was just beginning in the bishop’s residence. A fire broke out, rapidly spreading through the house and to the nearby cathedral. Father Goiffon was saved from the flames by being carried outside into the subzero temperatures on his mattress. The cathedral was a complete loss. Father Goiffon, however, survived. The cold had caused his artery to clot, and he managed to recover and later returned to his parish in Pembina.

After receiving the news, Bishop Grace decided that it was time for him to visit the northern portion of his diocese. Although the Diocese of St. Paul had been established in 1849, neither Bishop Grace nor his predecessor had ever visited the parishes of the far north. Bishop Grace set out from St. Paul with his companions on Aug. 1, 1861. He finally reached Pembina and its sister parish in St. Joseph to find Father Goiffon working diligently to minister to his parishioners, most of whom were Métis (born from furtrading French or Scottish fathers and Native American mothers). Bishop Grace confirmed 53 souls before returning to St. Paul.

Pembina and St. Joseph remained the most distant outpost of the Diocese of St. Paul until 1879, but it might have gone a different way. When Minnesota became a territory in 1849, St. Paul had only recently become a city. Pembina had been settled for more than 50 years by French Canadian fur traders and had a log chapel built by missionaries. However, it was also hard to reach from elsewhere in the state and less than 100 miles from the city-see of St. Boniface in Canada, so St. Paul became the bishop’s home. Eventually, railroads made trips to Pembina and beyond far faster and safer,

SIMPLE HOLINESS | KATE SOUCHERAY

marriage. They often ask if it is possible to interrupt these negative patterns and begin to love and respect each other again.

First of all, it is important to recognize when negativity arises and acknowledge it, because we cannot change anything that remains elusive. We may be surprised when we realize how quickly and easily the negative sentiment toward our spouses can ignite, as if from the air. And we can blame our brains for that.

As human beings, our brain is wired for negativity, because this perspective kept early human beings alive much more than a positive, optimistic approach to life.

Those who were skeptical were the ones who survived, creating a gene pool of brain wiring for caution and uncertainty. We must recognize our brains are doing what they are wired to do and name what is happening.

Second, we can take a step back from the situation and see the negativity as an automatic thought that fired in our brains, and we do not wish for this negative thought pattern to continue. We have to be tough with our brains. If we want to change our thoughts, we have to be firm and actively change them. Think of driving a car. We do not get in, turn the key and expect it to put itself in reverse or drive. We have to take that step to put the car in the desired gear for the car to leave the garage, driveway or parking space. The same is true for our brains. They turn on thoughts automatically and we have to take the active step to change a negative state to a positive state, which is not natural for us.

Third, we have to actively feed these positive

Recognizing negative thought patterns in marriage Married couples, not uncommonly, see a counselor or therapist because negativity has developed in the marriage, persistently creating unhappiness for the couple.

This negativity has been named “Negative Sentiment Override” by marriage researchers John and Julie Gottman. When negative feelings seep into the couple’s conversations and interactions — whether spoken or in their thoughts about each other — they are often unable to break this cycle due to the way the brain continues to feed the negativity created by these beliefs. It is not uncommon to see these couples fall into hopelessness and despair over the state of their

N O T I C E

TS

T& S

COURTESY ARCHIVES OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF ST. PAUL AND MINNEAPOLIS

Father Joseph Goiffon in a photo taken in the early 1900s.

Father Goiffon died in 1910. but for a few decades, the bishop of St. Paul continued to lead a truly frontier Church that extended all the way to the Missouri River.

Luiken is a Catholic and a historian with a doctorate from the University of Minnesota. She loves exploring and sharing the hidden histories that touch our lives every day.

thoughts toward our spouses for them to become more automatic. We can do this by holding their hand when we walk together, giving them a kiss when we reunite after a day apart, or praying for them. It’s the small things that help us create a brain that is wired for positivity and optimism in our marriage.

And finally, we can use words of affirmation, spend quality time with them, offer gifts, do acts of service, or use physical touch. You may recognize these suggestions from “The Five Love Languages” by Gary Chapman.

The challenge is to learn our spouse’s love language and love them the way they want to be loved, not the way we want to love them. This means we have to pay attention to what our spouses tell us, most often without words, about how they prefer to be loved.

It is challenging to change negative thought patterns to become more positive toward our spouses.

Understanding our spouses’ love languages and loving them the way they want to be loved indicates the selflessness of a Catholic marriage. We are loving the other the way they want to be loved, creating a genuine dynamic of seeing the other as God sees them and celebrating their uniqueness and deep desire to be seen, accepted and loved as they are.

That is the greatest gift we will ever give our spouses.

What an adventure for 2024!

Soucheray is a licensed marriage and family therapist emeritus and a member of St. Ambrose in Woodbury.

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JANUARY 11, 2024

COMMENTARY

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 17

TWENTY SOMETHING | CHRISTINA CAPECCHI

Saluting the chroniclers and looking to the new year He began at the beginning: “Left St. Paul Jan. 23rd 98 at 4:30 P.M.” In a leather-bound journal, his neat cursive scrolled in pencil across graph paper, Frank Storms charted his epic pursuit: to strike gold in Alaska.

He arrived in 1898, in the middle of a stampede — some 100,000 prospectors who made up the Klondike Gold Rush. The Minnesota man was convinced he had what it took, attaching a newspaper clipping that quoted “the millionaire miner” F.T. King: “No one should go to Alaska in the hope of finding gold unless he is possessed of a good physique, indomitable will and tenacity and a willingness to work long and hard and at anything that presents itself.”

Storms chronicled his travels in detail, providing summaries and lists. He noted all his supplies. He documented his Christmas menu: oyster soup, fish, roast, Alaska baked beans, creamed potatoes and mince pie, then a pipe with two friends. And he illustrated his odyssey, sketching tributaries of the Yukon River and “Old Sam’s Cabin” where he stayed.

Storms didn’t find gold, returning home due to a broken hip. But he did leave his family a treasure: his journal.

More than a century later, we pore over his pages, awed by his daring and his diligence — the latter, necessary for us to learn of the former.

Every Christmas Eve, we pause from our festivities to salute great-grandpa Frank and the Knights of Pythias, the fraternal organization under which he traveled.

His story lives on.

I’ve been thinking about journaling, which is both a lost art and a spiritual exercise. Last May, in a fit of endof-school-year sentimentality, I resolved to begin a simple family journal. I was pained by how quickly it all goes.

Journaling felt like the surest way to slow time, to keep all the days from blurring together. They are too sacred to blur.

This was the underlying belief, a sense of urgency and

It strikes me as an inherently Catholic undertaking: to see each day as a profound gift, however ordinary; to recognize the dignity in each person and encounter; to possess an abiding gratitude, a heart of thanksgiving.

COURTESY CHRISTINA CAPECCHI

An illustration from Frank Storms’ 1898 journal.

sanctity stirring deep within.

I’d purchased a leather journal and tried to replicate Frank’s pencil cursive. But what works for me is sitting down at my desktop computer and tapping a few quick sentences into a Google document. Sometimes right before bed. Sometimes in the window between turning on the stove and bringing water to a boil. Sometimes not at all. (That’s part of the deal — no pressure.)

I can think of no better way to launch a new year than to document it. Start with the simplest stuff: the date, the weather. Then keep it simple. What you did, what you ate, who you saw.

A journal requires neither analysis nor poetry. It is the recording itself that counts.

It strikes me as an inherently Catholic undertaking: to see each day as a profound gift, however ordinary; to recognize the dignity in each person and encounter; to

possess an abiding gratitude, a heart of thanksgiving.

Every January, I recall a passage from the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke, as much prayer as poem: “And now let us believe in a long year that is given to us — new, untouched, full of things that have never been.”

It is a matter of faith: We believe in the year given to us by God. We marvel at its novelty, things that are not only new but “have never been.” It sounds so clean and hopeful, like a fresh blanket of snow.

That’s how God sees each new life conceived: a unique and unrepeatable soul, someone who has never been, who will change the course of human history. All the details of that life matter, so we give witness to each day, each gift — pencil to paper, fingers to keys.

“Here’s what happened,” we write.

And we mean, “Thank you.”

Capecchi is a freelance writer from Inver Grove Heights.

ALREADY/NOT YET | JONATHAN LIEDL

In 2024, don’t be optimistic — be hopeful It’s a new year! A time to turn the page on 2023, make some resolutions and look forward to the next 12 months.

At the start of the new year, we’re also often encouraged to be optimistic about what lies ahead, to have positive thoughts about what life has in store for us, no matter what happened in the past year.

Got fired in 2023? You’ll find your dream job in 2024.

Been unlucky in love? Romantic bliss is right around the corner.

Had some health struggles? Expect to be full strength in no time.

Now, I’m all for a little positive thinking, especially when compared to the alternative: pessimism and despair. Having an optimistic outlook doesn’t just make us think good things will happen to us — it’s been shown to positively contribute to our health, productivity and relationships.

But it’s also true that optimism, at the end of the day, isn’t enough to face life and all its challenges. It’s not enough, because optimism, a kind of self-reliant resiliency, can never give us what we truly need and desire: the promise of life in the face of death.

In fact, the Catholic writer G.K. Chesterton compared optimism to the sin of presumption, which unjustifiably assumes that things will work out.

The problem with unbridled optimism is that, if taken to the extreme, it gets reality wrong. Countries are at war. The economy is volatile. Our nation seems to be on the decline. Friends and loved ones are taken away from

If optimism offers us ‘soft soap and wishful thinking,’ to borrow a phrase from C.S. Lewis, the Christian virtue of hope offers us something else: the confidence that even if things around us are a disaster, everything in our lives is still conspiring for our ultimate good. us by freak accidents and sudden illnesses. Optimism can’t account for the finitude and fickleness of human life. Or it does so by ignoring the whole picture.

In fact, optimism has even been described as a kind of false cognitive bias, a mental trick we play on ourselves.

Optimism, it is said, is a human delusion, while the optimist is someone who lacks information.

If optimism offers us “soft soap and wishful thinking,” to borrow a phrase from C.S. Lewis, the Christian virtue of hope offers us something else: the confidence that even if things around us are a disaster, everything in our lives is still conspiring for our ultimate good.

Pope Francis reflected on the difference this past year at World Youth Day. “Christian hope is no facile optimism, no placebo for the credulous: it is the certainty, rooted in love and faith, that God never abandons us and remains faithful to his promise: Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil, for you are with me.”

Christian hope, the pope makes clear, is inherently relational. It is not a product of our own making. Rather, it is divine gift, the desire for God’s kingdom and the trust in the faithfulness of his promises, precisely because the one who makes the promise is with us today.

As the late Pope Benedict XVI wrote in “Spe Salvi,” hope is “the expectation of things to come from the perspective of a present that is already given. It is a looking-forward in Christ’s presence, with Christ who is present, to the perfecting of his Body, to his definitive coming.”

Therefore, while hope is a gift, it is also a virtue we can cultivate. We can become more hopeful by being more dependent and closer to the one who is both the object and the source of hope: Jesus Christ.

And because hope involves the presence of Christ, it isn’t only something that looks ahead, but something that transforms everything we experience — including suffering — into an opportunity to be united with him.

“The saints were able to make the great journey of human existence in the way that Christ had done before them, because they were brimming with great hope,” wrote Pope Benedict.

So no, hope will not necessarily get you your dream job.

It will not guarantee you romantic and relational success.

It doesn’t promise you a clean bill of health.

Hope offers us something more resilient and realistic, but also more satisfying: the certainty that no matter what happens to us in 2024, Christ is not only leading us to an eternity of happiness, but also is with us every step of the way.

Liedl, a Twin Cities resident, is a senior editor of the National Catholic Register and a graduate student in theology at The St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul.

18 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

JANUARY 11, 2024

Why I am Catholic

By John Crudele

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

“… And I believe what I believe is what makes me what I am, I did not make it, no it is making me, It is the very truth of God and not the invention of any man…”

“Creed” – song by Rich Mullins, 1986

I

n Wichita, Kansas, 1992: I and eight other youth speakers addressed all the area junior high and high school students in one week. This culminated in a Friday night, city-wide stadium event with music by Rich Mullins and a Gospel message by Franklin Graham. I was the one youth speaker in the group who happened to be Catholic. The others were evangelical.

Mullins asked: Crudele, why are you Catholic?

As a child of 5 or 6 years old, I’d sit with my mom, dad and three siblings at St. Cecilia’s Catholic Church in Ames, Iowa. Stained-glass windows captured my attention. My eyes darted around from statues to stations to the tabernacle. The raising of the host by the priest was a moment my spirit calmed. My parents knelt with respect and devotion. Something mystical was happening. I took it all in: first Communion, reconciliation and confirmation.

My father — who, at night, jogged in place while praying his rosary — died when I was 15. His bout with depression and suicide rocked our family to the core. To me, to become a young man meant to be more like him, but what parts? I clung to the good. Faith was important to him, so I believed it needed to be to me. I treasure his rosary, and devotion to Mary, to this day.

In college, I felt led to speak to young people on making wise choices. Though 98% of where I spoke were public schools and conferences, I always looked to my faith for the foundation for truth and a way to clarify my thinking. My professional speaker mentors were mostly evangelical Christians. They often pulled out their Bible to challenge me, sometimes even to suggest I wasn’t Christian. So began my exploration of faith in my mid-20s. It was a spin inward and a quest to search for answers and other ways of worship. This was coupled with a forever longing and sense something was missing. Missing was the Mass and Eucharist.

In the mid-1980s, I spoke at Creighton Prep, an all-boy Jesuit high school in Omaha, Nebraska. After a full day of programs, Father Dick Tomasek befriended me, and we’d meet for dinner and long visits whenever I was in town. Two years later, on a walk around then-

Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis, he said, “There! You sound Catholic!

When I met you, you sounded Protestant! You’d been influenced by your good-intentioned mentors. You sound Catholic again.” After a long pause, Father Tomasek quietly confessed, “The day I met you, I felt a tug in my spirit to help finish what your father didn’t have time to do — help form you in the fullness of the faith.” We remained friends, and he was my spiritual father and mentor for 27 years until his death in 2011.

Scott Hahn’s 1986 conversion story and apologetics found their way into my life in the ‘90s. His way to unpack our faith brought depth to my understanding of how the Church was forever part of God’s plan for our salvation. This gave language to what my soul knew. The fullness of the truth and our faith is found in the Mass; the Eucharist is true.

During several seasons with depression, and a hospitalization in 2009, I’d frequent noon Mass at St. Olaf in Minneapolis, simply to receive the sacramental grace of the Eucharist, followed by reconciliation. In the outflow of grace, I’d experience some physical lifting of the depression and a renewed peace. The kind, compassionate counsel, and words of absolution from the priest, always comforts, renews and breathes hope into my spirit. This grace and faith now sustain me.

As St. Augustine said for all the ages: “May your Creed be for you as a mirror. Look at yourself in it, to see if you believe everything you say you believe. And rejoice in your faith every day”— echoed

by Mullins, “I’m not making it, as it is making me. It is the very truth of God and not the invention of any man.” This one holy, Catholic, apostolic Church. To which I gratefully respond: Amen.

Crudele, 64, is a professional speaker, author and executive coach for education, business and faith-based audiences. He focuses primarily on coaching leaders in transition and speaking for organizations and church men’s groups. He’s a senior director and brand partner with LifeWave. He is the founder and former president of Partnership for Youth and initiated and led the process to bring the Steubenville North Conferences for Catholic teens to the Twin Cities. He attends St. Hubert in Chanhassen and St. Michael in Prior Lake, and mentors seminarians at St. John Vianney College Seminary in St. Paul for Virtuous Business Leaders.

“Why I am Catholic” is an ongoing series in The Catholic Spirit. Want to share why you are Catholic? Submit your story in 300-500 words to CatholicSpirit@archspm.org with subject line “Why I am Catholic.”

JANUARY 11, 2024 THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 19

CALENDAR PARISH EVENTS Pro-Life Memorial Mass — Jan. 26: 6 p.m. at St. Charles Borromeo, 2739 Stinson Blvd., St. Anthony.

Join Prolife Across America for a Memorial Mass. Father Marcus Milless will celebrate Mass.

Parish Anniversary Concert — Jan. 27: 6:30-8:30 p.m. at St. Katharine Drexel, 7101 143rd Ave. NW, Suite G, Ramsey. Celebrate 19 years of the parish with an evening of guitar “From Bach to Beatles” with Randall Ferguson playing a variety of guitars (dating back to 1785). Family event with hors d’oeuvres, gift card raffle and wine raffle. Freewill offering.

Breakfast Buffet — Jan. 28: 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at Guardian Angels, 8260 Fourth St. N., Oakdale. Featuring biscuits and sausage gravy, scrambled eggs, pancakes, French toast, potato crowns, sausage, ham, and breakfast pastries. Ages 13 and older: $13. Ages 6-12: $8.

Ages 5 and under: free. guardian-angels.org/ event/22886729-2024-01-28-mens-club-breakfast-buffet/ St. Valentine’s Formal Dinner and Dance — Feb. 10: 5:30-9:30 p.m. at St. Raphael, 7301 Bass Lake Road, Crystal. Enjoy a formal, catered buffet dinner while being serenaded by live romantic music, followed by ballroom dancing to the Jerry O’Hagan Combo. More information including prices and tickets at fb.me/e/ aNz915oMwite or email catholicmarriagedance@gmail.com.

WORSHIP+RETREATS Men’s Silent Weekend Retreat: Do This in Memory of Me — Jan. 12-14: at Christ the King Retreat Center, 621 First Ave. S., Buffalo. These words of Jesus remind us of The Last Supper shared with his disciples and the gift of his presence. kingshouse.com Women’s Silent Weekend Retreat: Do This in Memory of Me — Jan. 19-21: at Christ the King Retreat Center, 621 First Ave. S., Buffalo. These words of Jesus remind us of The Last Supper shared with his disciples and the gift of his presence. kingshouse.com Loneliness on the Spiritual Journey — Jan. 26-27: at The Benedictine Center of St. Paul’s Monastery, 2675 Benet Road, St. Paul. Participants have the option to stay overnight at the monastery or commute.

Facilitated by experts with steady practice in spiritual loneliness. benedictinecenter.secure.retreat.guru/ program/2024-01-25-loneliness-on-the-spiritual-journey/ Cor Jesu — Feb. 9: 8-9:30 p.m. at St. Mary Chapel in The Saint Paul Seminary, 2260 Summit Ave., St. Paul.

Cor Jesu is a First Friday devotion for college students and young adults during the academic year. saintpaulseminary.org/event/cor-jesu-adoration-confessionpraise-and-worship-and-more-4/ Ignatian Men’s Silent Retreat — Thursday-Sunday most weeks at Demontreville Jesuit Retreat House, 8243 Demontreville Trail N., Lake Elmo. Let God meet

you at a beautiful retreat location in Lake Elmo. Freewill donation. demontrevilleretreat.com

guardian-angels.org/event/22857726-2024-02-15-

CONFERENCES+WORKSHOPS

SPEAKERS+SEMINARS Sister Joan Mitchell Explores the Gospel of Mark — six Tuesdays, Jan. 9-Feb. 13: 7-8:30 p.m., St. Frances Cabrini, 1500 Franklin Ave. SE, Minneapolis.

Sister Joan will highlight key messages from Mark’s Gospel. Lecture, small group discussion. Donations accepted. Contact: llffchair@cabrinimn.org.

What is the Mass? Vatican II Series: Sacrosanctum Concilium — Jan. 12: 6 p.m. at Guardian Angels, 8260 Fourth St. N., Oakdale. Christian Washburn, University of St. Thomas professor, will discuss deepening understanding of the liturgy and Vatican II’s teachings. guardian-angels.org/event/22876583-2024-0112-what-is-the-mass/ What is Pastoral Leadership? — Jan. 16: Noon-1 p.m. via Zoom sponsored by The St. Paul Seminary, St. Paul. What is Catholic ministry? What is the proper role of the laity in the Church? How can those in ministry be best prepared to serve the local Church? Reflect on these and other questions. uofstthomasmn.my.salesforce-sites.com/summit__ SummitEventsRegister?instanceID=a0zHq00000B2CMw

CALENDAR submissions

homelessness-seminar

Retrouvaille Marriage Help: Single Weekend Program — Feb. 2-4: at Best Western Dakota Ridge Hotel, 3450 Washington Drive, Eagan. Retrouvaille is a lifeline for troubled marriages. Couples learn the tools to rediscover each other and heal their marriage. 100% confidential. helpourmarriage.org

SCHOOLS Spring Musical: The Addams Family — Feb. 2-4: at Benilde-St. Margaret, 2501 Highway 100 S., St. Louis Park. Performances are at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 2 through Saturday, May 4 with a matinee performance at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 5. bsmschool.org/student-life/ activities/drama or contact dlucs@bsmschool.org Junior High Musical: Matilda, Jr. — Feb. 23-24: at Benilde-St. Margaret, 2501 Highway 100 S., St. Louis Park. Performances are at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 23 and Saturday, Feb. 24 with a matinee performance at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 25. bsmschool.org/student-life/activities/drama

DEADLINE: Noon Thursday, 14 days before the anticipated Thursday date of publication.

We cannot guarantee a submitted event will appear in the calendar. Priority is given to events occurring before the issue date.

LISTINGS: Accepted are brief no­tices of upcoming events hosted by Catholic parishes and organizations. If the Catholic connection is not clear, please emphasize it in your submission.

Included in our listings are local events submitted by public sources that could be of interest to the larger Catholic community.

ITEMS MUST INCLUDE: uTime and date of event uFull street address of event uDescription of event uContact information in case of questions u The Catholic Spirit prints calendar details as submitted.

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OTHER EVENTS

TOGETHER CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12

Who Should Study Theology? — Jan. 17: Noon-1 p.m. via Zoom sponsored by The St. Paul Seminary, St. Paul. What is the study of theology?

Why would a layperson need or want to enter into its study? How does the study of theology equip the laity to better serve the local Church? Reflect on these and other questions. uofstthomasmn.my.salesforce-sites.com/summit__ SummitEventsRegister?instanceID=a0zHq00000B2CNB

Healing the Wounds of Abuse Retreat: Grief to Grace MN — Jan. 30-Feb. 4: Five days of professional, trauma-informed care with attention to each one’s experience of isolation, abandonment and suffering — a true therapy for the soul in a safe and secure environment. For more information, email info@grieftogracemn.org or call Diane at 612-440-7247. grieftogracemn.org

On Laudato Si’: Our Common Home — Jan. 18: 5:45 p.m. at Guardian Angels, 8260 Fourth St. N., Oakdale. With Sarah Carter, program director for the Laudato Si’ Advocates Program, an internship experience for young adult Catholics under the guidance of the USCCB. guardian-angels.org/event/22857724-2024-01-18winterspring-speaker-series/

Guiding Star Wakota’s Grow with Us Gala — Feb. 24: 5:30 p.m. at 484 Inwood Ave. N., Oakdale.

Featuring Archbishop Bernard Hebda, emcee Matt Birk, client testimonials and The John and Paula Campbell family. guidingstarwakota.org/gala

Communicating Faithfully in the Digital Age — Jan. 26: 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at Emmaus Hall, St. John’s University, 2966 Saint John’s Road, Collegeville. Reflect with Daniella Zsupan-Jerome as she examines what it means to remain rooted in the word and the call to lend a faithful presence in our communication practices in digital spaces. Free event. Registration is required. csbsju.edu/sot/sem/alumni-and-friends/attend-events/ theology-day

Restorative Support for Victims-Survivors — Monthly: 6:30-8 p.m. via Zoom. Open to all victimssurvivors. Victim-survivor support group for those abused by clergy as adults — first Mondays. Support group for relatives or friends of victims of clergy sexual abuse — second Mondays. Victim-survivor support group — third Mondays. Survivor Peace Circle — third Tuesdays.

Support group for men who have been sexually abused by clergy/religious — fourth Wednesdays. Support group for present and former employees of faith-based institutions who have experienced abuse in any of its many forms — second Thursday. Visit archspm.org/healing or contact Paula Kaempffer, outreach coordinator for restorative justice and abuse prevention, at kaempfferp@ archspm.org or 651-291-4429.

Christmas or Easter baskets, Olson said.

Together for Good receives no government funding or grants. It serves all families and children in need, regardless of their background, Olson said.

Prospective host families supply pastor and community references. They are trained in trauma informed caregiving and given information on child abuse and cultural competency. They consent to a background check and home assessment, she said.

In addition to the Twin Cities, Together for Good has partners in Rochester, several central Iowa cities and churches in Waco, Texas. The organization has received requests about their services from around the country and would like to expand, Olson said.

Hollis said she is now transitioning to an apartment. While she looks forward to having Vlad with her, she isn’t ending her relationship with the Hoffners, whose care helps fill a void in her life of having no family nearby, she said.

Working with the Hoffners and Together for Good “has been the most amazing experience I think I’ve ever I’ve ever had,” Hollis said. “I couldn’t have asked for anything better.”

Helping those Experiencing Homelessness Seminar — Feb. 15: 6:30-8 p.m. at Guardian Angels, 8260 Fourth St. N., Oakdale. Participants include Washington County Human Services, South Washington Schools, Stepping Stone Emergency Shelter, The Experience of Neshama, and The Connect. Free event, RSVP appreciated.

ONGOING GROUPS

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20 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

THELASTWORD

JANUARY 11, 2024

warm wishes for the winter

New company sends

M

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit

Mary Jo Copeland was summoned to the loading dock of her Sharing and Caring Hands facility in Minneapolis Dec. 21.

She was there to meet Patrick and Ava Daly, who came to donate 30 winter parkas made by their newly launched business, Deano’s Parkas.

They wanted to offer warmth for people who spend much of their time on the streets and endure the cold of winter day after day.

Copeland’s staff brought the parkas inside, then she invited the Catholic couple, who married on Oct. 27 at Holy Family in St. Louis Park, upstairs for a tour of her drop-in center for the poor and homeless.

After greeting people coming in for lunch, Copeland joined hands with Patrick, Ava and Ava’s twin sister, Blaire Pospesel, and led a short prayer.

Then, Patrick and Ava placed a parka on the shoulders of the 81-year-old founder of Sharing and Caring Hands.

She looked at each of them and burst into her trademark smile.

The parka was a perfect fit, literally and figuratively.

“Can I keep it?” Copeland asked.

Of course, the two newlyweds replied. For them, this gift to Mary Jo was icing on the cake.

Surely, this moment would have warmed the heart of the man who made it all possible — Ava’s father, Dean Pospesel, who came up with the idea of the parkas in 2018 but can’t carry out his vision because of a lifealtering health problem. He suffered a cardiac arrest in December 2021 that deprived him of oxygen to his brain.

This led to an anoxic brain injury and has left him in the care of his twin daughters.

Ava runs the company, which was launched in October, and keeps her father’s vision at the front of her mind and in the depths of her heart. Patrick also helps out, as does Blaire and their brother, Cole.

“We want everyone to wear a little Dean on them, as he made ordinary moments special,” said Patrick Daly, 33. “We thought, ‘What better way to continue his ideation and legacy (than) through these parkas?’”

Dean’s legacy is more than designing parkas. He had to carry on after becoming a widowed father of three when his wife, Jeanette, died in a car accident in 2006 while driving Ava and Blaire to a sporting event. She was 46.

“My mom was an amazing person,” said Ava, 31. “And then, my dad, when she passed away, became a superhuman. He dedicated every day to my sister and I and my brother. ... We love him so much, and this is one way we can honor him because he lived each day honoring those he loved.”

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Patrick, left, and Ava Daly react as Mary Jo Copeland, center, founder of Sharing and Caring Hands in Minneapolis, puts on one of their Deano’s Parkas Dec. 21.

Dean originally made the parkas for members of a men’s hockey league he had joined. After the games, players would gather in the parking lot, a place Ava said they called the “blacktop bar.” Her dad, Ava said, enjoyed “spending time with the people that he loved and never wanted it to end.” So, to make long post-game gatherings possible, he bought bright orange sleeping bags, then had a seamstress remake them into parkas.

“He made a jacket for every one of his teammates and he even had their names embroidered on them,” Ava said. “He passed them out after one hockey game. And not only were they so warm, but they were like nothing his teammates had ever seen. They put such a smile on everybody’s face; my dad knew they were going to be something special.”

Dean continued to develop the parka design over the next three years, with the idea of one day producing and selling them. Along the way, he developed a philosophy that will always guide the company.

“The mission of our company is to make ordinary moments special,” Ava said. “That’s our acronym: M.O.M.S. — Make Ordinary Moments Special.

He created that phrase ... because he wanted to pay homage to my mom.”

The company is guided by Catholic

principles, thanks to Ava’s conversion to Catholicism and joining the Church on Oct. 1. Her teacher for the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (formerly called the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) was none other than Patrick’s brother, Father Michael Daly, who serves at St. Michael in St. Michael and was the celebrant at their wedding.

“When I first met Patrick, I really didn’t know much about the Catholic faith,” said Ava, who grew up in Wayzata and attended Wayzata Community Church with her family.

“As we grew in our relationship, Patrick started sharing with me how he incorporates his Catholic faith into his everyday life. We started attending Mass together and praying daily. It was really powerful and had a great impact on me.

“And so, when we got engaged (in March) and we were looking forward to marriage, it was important to me that I entered into the (Catholic) faith.”

They now belong to Holy Family, and they sometimes go to St. Bartholomew in Wayzata, which is near where they live. Occasionally, they go to Mass at St. Michael so they can see Father Daly when he celebrates Mass there. When it’s cold, they walk hand-in-hand from the parking lot while wearing Deano’s Parkas.

“I think faith needs to be the center of our relationship, and a pillar, like my parents (Lulu and Dr. Peter Daly) made it,” Patrick said. “I think, through (OCIA), we really got to know each other on a much deeper level. We went through 20 weeks of it while we were engaged. I mean, our entire engagement was (OCIA) every Wednesday.”

The Dalys aren’t sure what the future holds for Deano’s Parkas. They have sold nearly 200 so far, and offer it in four colors — blaze orange, pink, green and black.

“The black parka is perfect for priests who are wearing all black,” Patrick said. “We’re hoping to put a parka on every priest in the (arch) diocese.”

One thing is certain — Patrick and Ava will give their best effort to keep the company going and keep the parkas covering the shoulders of people wanting protection from cold Minnesota winters.

“We’re putting our blood, sweat and tears — and our faith — into these parkas, just trying to make ordinary moments special,” Patrick said. “I think Jesus would want to wear a parka, and he’d want people to embrace something like this, because they (parkas) really bring warmth to people — not just physically warm, but warming people’s hearts as well.”